No High-Priced Lawyer
But the most daunting news on the occasion of setting April 9 for the pairs preliminary hearing was that the ostensibly well-to-do Mr. Vera was represented by a public defender.
This is the kind of free lawyer who traditionally defends the indigent.
Mr. Vera, the scion of a wealthy family, indigent?
It is the clearest sign yet that the Vera family has adopted a drastic new strategy financial idleness.
Physically Present
At least they are present for moral support.
Relatives of Mr. Vera were grouped together in the final row of the courtroom.
During the few minutes Mr. Vera was in the courtroom, he never made eye contact with them.
He Was Not Looking
He did not turn in the direction of the audience when a bailiff opened a door off to the side of the courtroom and shepherded the prisoners into the judges presence.
No signs or sounds of emotion were emitted.
Both prisoners wore empty expressions.
After previously assisting their son, who has been in and out of several jams with various police departments, Mr. Veras parents evidently have decided to sit this case out.
Legal Speculation
This proves that even Alberts patience can become exhausted, a family friend said.
After the hearing, two legal sources told thefrontpageonline.com that they believe Junior is not going to be able to walk away this time.
The notion that for the first time he may draw a jail sentence is strengthened by the fact that Mr. Veras ultimately penalty may be linked to that of his co-defendant, 39-year-old Dana Frank Goller, his neighbor and friend.
Bailing for Dollars
When Mr. Vera was arrested 9 days ago in El Segundo, his bail was set at $25,000.
The County District Attorneys office promptly sought to triple it to $75,000. The judge agreed last week at Mr. Veras arraignment.
They Have Been Waiting
For the past week, the many Culver City friends and political allies of Albert Vera Sr. have been expecting to read any day that the man known as Junior would be sprung the bail amount being seen as eminently handleable by a family with far-flung holdings.
After all, they have visited this scenario before.
Last time Mr. Vera Jr. was arrested, at a Redondo Beach construction site not far from his girlfriends home, on Memorial Day weekend, his bail was $50,000.
Fast Turnaround
It was posted so fast that the blurring whirl of activity stirred the hair of women police department employees and males, for that matter with lengthy locks.
Not so this time.
In the corridor outside of Judge Schwartzs courtroom, following the several-minute hearing, the public defender, Michael J. Russo, suggested he expects Mr. Vera to remain behind bars for the foreseeable future.
Mr. Goller is being held without bail in the Mens Central Jail, where Mr. Vera Jr. also is housed.
Prison for Goller?
Indications were the prosecutor will seek state prison time for Mr. Goller, based on probation violation.
Before getting down to business this morning, there was playful bantering among courtroom personalities who did not seem able to believe the transparency of the crime.
How could this happen out in the open? they wondered.
Open-Air Crime
The two sizable suspects Mr. Vera is tall and slender, his neighbor and co-defendant Mr. Goller, is shorter and rounder would approach a vending machine in front of a well-lighted Ralphs supermarket on Sepulveda Boulevard, burglary tools in hand, in the apparent presence of customers.
It is charged that the pair boldly pried loose and hijacked the coin dispenser.
An hour later, they were arrested just one block away by El Segundo police.
