News that Ed Wackerman, the man charged with starting the Oak Fire, would be allowed to return to his home in Midpines, stirred up some strong and unresolved feelings.
Considered the most devastating fire in Mariposa County’s history, the Oak Fire left a scar on the landscape and a wound in the community that still hasn’t healed.
Wackerman walking, or wheeling out of jail, felt to many like rubbing salt in that wound with the thumb he raised leaving the Mariposa County Courthouse.
During the bail hearing last week, Nicole Fleming was shaking before she spoke, but she did it for her parents and the others who lost their homes and their dreams with it.
Why, she asked the judge, should Ed Wackerman be allowed to return to his home when her parents and so many others could not?
It doesn’t seem fair.
And in the scheme of things it’s not.
But it is to Mr. Wackerman.
Putting aside his ultimate guilt or innocence, Wackerman has been in jail for 906 days. And his health appears to be declining precipitously.
As a reporter for the Mariposa Gazette, I’ve been in court for most of Wackerman’s recent court appearances, and his arraignment in June 2023, and the trajectory has been somewhat startling.
Edward Wackerman is only 73 years old, but he moves and behaves like a much older man. He now comes and goes from the courthouse in a wheelchair and requires amplifying ear phones to hear the proceedings. Even then, it is not entirely clear he always understands what’s happening.
Much of the information about Wackerman’s health care is not public, but court filings paint a grim picture.
He’s been diagnosed with hypertension, back injuries, spinal fractures, hearing loss, depression and cerebral necrosis resulting from a possible cerebral infarction, also known as an ischemic stroke.
He has been transported nearly a dozen times to John C. Fremont Hospital, most recently on Sept. 23 after falling in the jail and hitting his head on the concrete floor.
A nurse in charge of Wackerman’s care wrote in one assessment, summarized at the bail hearing, that he was at serious risk for a fall that could cause serious injury or death.
Capt. Chris Ramirez testified at the hearing that the Mariposa County Jail was not able to accommodate Wackerman’s complicated needs by providing a 24-7 medical caretaker.
And, frankly, no wonder. It’s a jail, not a 24-hour nursing facility.
The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office, on deadline, came up with three possible alternatives that ranged from distant prison hospitals to a private security facility in Fresno that could cost up to $30,000 a month.
Mariposa County taxpayers would be picking up the tab.
Here is the thing we need to remember: Bail is not a form of punishment. It is designed to ensure the accused returns to court, and that they are not a threat or danger to the community.
This is a balancing act between the presumption of innocence at trial, and the presumption that there is probable cause to believe Wackerman committed the arson.
The California Supreme Court addressed many of these issues in March 2021 with the Kenneth Humphrey case, a repeat offender who had cash bail set at $600,000 for a burglary. The California Attorney General actually joined him in his appeal.
California, like many states, is moving away from a cash bail system. The presumptive bail for most felonies in Mariposa County is $50,000.
Based on the legal principles of due process and equal protection, the California Supreme Court ruled there must be clear and convincing evidence to show that detention is necessary to protect public safety.
Wackerman most likely no longer meets that “clear and convincing” standard. His complicated and cascading health issues have changed the risk calculation.
Emily Cordell, who is prosecuting the case for the California Attorney General’s Office, did not object to his release and placing him on house arrest, noting the prohibitive cost of alternatives, his frail health and long standing ties to Mariposa.
Cordell flatly observed about his release: “It isn’t up to the sheriff. It is up to the prosecutor, defense and the judge.”
She’s right, of course. It’s the way the system works.
A few hours later, Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese went on Facebook Live to announce Wackerman’s pending release.
It wasn’t his decision, he made perfectly clear and he encouraged people to contact their state lawmakers.
Later in a Facebook post, still apparently seething, Briese wrote: “Mr. Wackerman should not have been released. The California Attorney General’s Office should have fought harder for our community. Would the Attorney General’s Office have the same opinion if this was the individual accused of starting the Palisades Fire?”
It is the kind of whataboutism you hear during a panel discussion on CNN, and I can’t help wondering if it is wise to so harshly check the prosecutor who will be questioning your detectives on the witness stand.
My second thought was this: Sheriff Briese may be hurting too, speaking from a place of community trauma. The price we pay collectively when we see so many lose so much. A pyrocumulus shadow that still hangs over us.
There is an undeniable urge with Wackerman’s release to shake a fist and trash courts that let criminals roam free. You’ll find that on Facebook where some are shamelessly speculating on Wackerman’s longevity outside of jail.
In many ways, it proves the defense point about needing a change of venue. Maybe Mariposa County can’t be impartial.
But maybe we can find room for moderation and thoughtfulness.
There is a completely valid discussion about inmates with “specialized medical demands,” and what kind of services a jail of any size in California can reasonably, and economically, be expected to provide.
But anyone following this case, or reading about it in the Mariposa Gazette, understood Wackerman’s release was a real possibility. This is not a shock.
It’s why Nicole Fleming and a few others kept showing up for his court hearings.
The real shame about this case is that two and a half years later we still don’t even know where the trial will be held, not to mention when.
For many, nothing will seem particularly fair until Wackerman faces a jury of his peers.
Until then, a sick man, getting sicker, goes home.
Tom Lyden is a staff writer for the Mariposa Gazette and can be reached at tom@mariposagazette.com.
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