Nicholas Wentz’s bond was maintained and a request to modify a protection order between him and his alleged victim was denied during two hearings in court in Cortez on Thursday.
The first hearing took place in 22nd Judicial District Court and dealt with Wentz’s return filing of charges and hearing on bond. Mallory Taub, who represented Wentz, told Judge William Furse that Wentz and his family cannot post bond. She shared that while Wentz has been living in Cortez, he was in the process of moving back to Durango to live with his father.
Wentz’s mother confirmed that his father would be able to drive him back and forth to the courthouse in Cortez for his hearings. Taub added that Wentz works in construction and has been part of a home construction project in Durango.
The victim in the case was also discussed, with Taub telling Furse that she’d had “serious discussions” with Wentz about following the protection orders. Wentz being in Durango could help mitigate some of the opportunities to violate the protection orders, as the victim is in Cortez.
Wentz’s bond is set as a $3,000 cash surety bond, which was set by Judge Ian MacLaren at a hearing earlier this month. The district attorney’s representative for the people said they believed the bond was “woefully underset.” They would have set the bond for $25,000.
After detailing the alleged assault, Furse said that he would maintain bond and maintain the sobriety monitoring order, adding that he would have also set the bond higher.
Furse set Wentz’s preliminary hearing and appearance on bond in the 22nd Judicial District Court for Thursday, Feb. 13, at 1:30 p.m.
Later that day, Wentz appeared again, this time in the County Court. He appeared for five pretrial conferences and appearance on bond.
At the start of the hearing, the alleged victim asked to address Judge Ian MacLaren in regards to modifying the protection order. She asked MacLaren if the “no contact” protection order could be modified to allow them to speak on the phone.
The woman explained that she and Wentz had been friends for 16 years and were “very important to each other.”
“I’d hate to lose that and to see him go down a wrong path when I could help him go down a correct path,” she said.
The people said they were not comfortable with modifying the protection order, as the alleged assault included his hands around her neck, preventing her from breathing for “30 seconds.”
If the protection order were to be modified, they said they’d only want written communication allowed.
MacLaren said he would not modify the protection order at this time, emphasizing his concern for the recent number of offenses, specifically those that include alleged actions of domestic violence.
Wentz’s representation requested more time to enter pleas, so MacLaren set Wentz’s next hearing in his courtroom Thursday, Feb. 20, at 11 a.m.
Wentz was arrested the first week of January on suspicion of domestic violence after allegedly showing up to the protected party’s home, refusing to leave, pushing her into the couch and shoving her head into the couch. When she tried to call 911, he threw her phone and grabbed her neck, preventing her from breathing for “30 seconds,” according to the police report.
This alleged assault was a violation of a protection order already put in place between him and the reported victim, and wasn’t the first violation of this order.
