Judge Keeps Witness in Jail on DA’s Fears That He Will Flee

A judge Wednesday refused to release a man who is being held in jail because prosecutors say he would flee rather than testify against his sister and her husband, Debbie and Gilbert Delgado, who face murder charges in the death of their 2-month-old baby.

Michael Chavez, 25, argued that prosecutors had no right to keep him in Orange County Jail on $100,000 bail, which he has been unable to pay since he was taken into custody two weeks ago.

But Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno agreed with prosecutors that Chavez would likely flee if released. Law enforcement officials spent several months searching for Chavez to testify at the Delgados’ preliminary hearing two months ago. Prosecutors presented evidence that the Delgados helped Chavez hide from the police to avoid testifying.

The Delgados face a possible second-degree murder conviction in the Sept. 6, 1986, death of their infant daughter, Stephanie. Medical tests showed that the baby had cocaine in her system at the time of her death. Prosecutors are seeking a murder conviction against the Costa Mesa couple on the theory that they knowingly engaged in criminal activity--the sale of cocaine--without protecting their daughter from an unsafe chemical environment.

Gilbert Delgado is now free on $100,000 bail, Debbie Delgado on $50,000 bail. Their trial is scheduled to begin June 20.