No bail for Jonathan Bays

Jonathan Bays, the man charged with attempted murder and mayhem for a violent sword attack, pleaded not guilty to the charges last week. He is being held without bail.

The Mariposa County District Attorney’s Office indicated it was prepared to move swiftly in the case against Bays.

Assistant District Attorney Gerard Egan wanted a preliminary hearing set within 10 court days.

The right to a speedy preliminary hearing is one granted defendants.

Extensions are commonly asked for by defense attorneys, and usually granted without much objection from the state.

Bays’ defense attorney, Tina Hutson, asked for such an extension, explaining that she has a couple cases going to trial.

In the end, Mariposa County Superior Court Judge Michael Fagalde granted an extension. A preliminary hearing is now scheduled for June 30.

According to police and prosecutors, Bays attacked

Andrew Cooper on May 23 with a long sword at the Creekside Terrace Apartments.

Cooper, 32, lost two fingers and had more than 50 staples in his head.

Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese has described the violence as stemming from a methamphetamine fueled argument.

A woman who answered the door at the apartment where the attack happened said she was a witness. She said there were five other people in the apartment that night.

“There was blood in a pool on the floor,” she said, standing at the door only slightly cracked open.

The woman, who declined to give her name, said Cooper was a mistaken target, and that Bays was upset over an issue with someone else in which “he was made to look like someone’s bitch.”