PITTSBURG — Maria Vides, who is accused of fatally shooting her husband, popular adult school principal Paul Shatswell, has been freed from jail after her attorney convinced a judge to reduce her bail by nearly 95 percent.
Vides, of Pittsburg, was freed after a hearing in late July on the condition that she give up her passport. Superior Court Judge Mary Ann OMalley lowered Vides bail from $2.07 million to $150,000 at the hearing, after listening to attorney arguments in May, court records show.
Vides attorney, Christopher Varnell, said in an interview he presented evidence that Shatswell and Vides may have struggled over the gun during an argument and the shooting was a “tragic accident.” He said Shatswell was shot through the side of the head and not from behind, as police and prosecutors originally claimed, which he argued disproved allegations that she sneaked up behind her husband and shot him.
Shatswell was on life support for more than a week and died of his gunshot wound on March 24.
“Its just a very strange factual scenario…I think a lot of people dont have the full story and are operating on a limited set of facts,” Varnell said. “Once you hear the whole story, its understandable that it happened how it did.”
To Paul Shatswells 26-year-old son, Jonathan Shatswell, the bail lowering was “a joke.” He said he suspects his fathers slaying was premeditated and finds it “sickening” that some in the community have taken her side.
“I dont see how someone can admit to shooting someone and the court system doesnt take it seriously,” he said.
Jonathan Shatswell added that Vides is now allowed to visit her and Shatswells children.
“We were not comfortable that she had been released,” said Johanna Ignacio, a friend and former classmate of Paul Shatswell, who had organized an online prayer group for him when he was shot. “We were baffled…She could get in contact with her kids and sway their testimony.”
Vides next major court hearing, in early October, is a preliminary examination where a judge will review the prosecutions case and determine whether to order her to stand trial. Deputy district attorney Kabu Adodoadji said he fully expects Vides will be convicted of murder by the cases end.
“The evidence in this case will show the defendant committed murder. We will prove this in a court of law,” Adodoadji said.
The lowering of bail in a murder case — especially by so much — is rare in Contra Costa County. It happened most recently in 2018 when a Richmond judge reduced 34-year-old Jose Serranos bail from $1 million to $500,000. Serrano was charged with murdering Robert Viera, 54, in a fistfight.
Serranos bail was lowered only after the defense established Viera was a Los Angeles-area gang member who had drunkenly approached Serrano in line at a taco truck in Richmond and challenged him to a fight. He eventually accepted a plea deal to a manslaughter charge and was sentenced to less than 10 years in prison, with a release date in 2022, court records show.
OMalley, the judge who lowered Vides bail, was appointed to the bench in 1998. Her husband is Dan OMalley, a former prosecutor and judge and current defense attorney. Her sister-in-law, Nancy OMalley, is the Alameda County district attorney.
“Judge (Mary Ann) OMalley has been doing this a long time,” Varnell said. “It would have taken something incredibly significant and moving to do what she did.”
Factual dispute over Shatswells killing
Police said in a sworn statement shortly after Shatswells shooting that the couple returned from a date that evening and began arguing in the early morning of March 16. Varnell described it as a drunken argument that happened abruptly, after the two had a fun night out.
Police said Vides later told detectives that during the argument Shatswell, a sheriffs reserve deputy, handed her a gun while she was lying on her bed next to her 6-year-old son and said she should “just shoot him,” a phrase he had used before, she said, according to the documents.
Varnell said Shatswell was the only one with a key to access that gun, and was known for making suicidal comments while drunk. He said Vides admitted to shooting her husband after an hour-long police interrogation, after saying she didnt know what happened around 40 times.
“About an hour into the interview, police laid out a scenario to her, and said essentially, you must have been really upset with him and clearly thats why you did what you did,Read More – Source
