Crime & Safety

Cody Hall Pleads Not Guilty, Judge Denies Bail

Cody Hall remains at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin after having entered a plea of 'not guilty' at the Gale Schenone Hall of Justice this morning. Hall will be back in court for a preliminary hearing in February.

By Autumn Johnson

The 18-year-old Pleasanton man who killed a bicyclist with his car in June was denied bail Thursday morning after pleading not guilty to charges of murder and felony reckless driving. 

The family of Diana Hersevoort gave an audible gasp of relief when Judge Jacob Blea denied defense attorney Timothy Rien's request for $150,000 bail for his client who is facing a second degree murder charge along with felony reckless driving.

Tensions were running high in the courtroom for both families as Rien argued that Cody Hall should not be considered dangerous to the public and therefore should be granted bail.

Rien says that because the initial charges changed, increasing the manslaughter charge to second degree murder, that the prosecution "changed their theory" as to what happened on June 9 after receiving social media evidence obtained from warrants. 

"The social media verbiage appears to be the purported reason for the change in charges, not change in circumstances [surrounding the the events of the collision]," Rien said.

According to Rien, based on the charges against his client, Hall is "entitled to a setting of bail." The prosecutor in the Hall case responded to Rien's implications that the murder case was based solely on social media posts by citing Hall's excessive speed and numerous moving violations leading up to and during the collision of his vehicle and Diana and Joe Hersevoort, which resulted in Diana's death.

Responding to Rien's remarks implying that the police dragged their feet in completing the investigation and the charges were changed based on the social media posts gathered weeks after the collision, assistant District Attorney Sharon Carney said, "It was an ongoing investigation which brought forth much more evidence."

According to Carney, Hall has been involved in two other collisions before the June 9 collision, both unreported to the police, including one in Aug. 2011 where he rear-ended someone on Foothill Road near Foothill High School.

"On Nov. 23, 2011, the defendant was cited by Pleasanton Police for driving 70 miles per hour on Foothill Road," she said. "The officer cited, warned and lectured the defendant and he acknowledged his speed was dangerous."

The prosecutor later read off a list of quotes obtained from tweets posted by Hall including, "I have been a safe driver for a week now and I'm bored so that's out the window."

[Related article: Driver in Fatal Collision Used Social Media to Talk About Speeding]

Blea says that releasing Hall would likely result in another accident, possibly causing someone "great bodily injury." 

"The defendant has shown a blatant disregard for the law," Blea said, adding, "The defendant shows a potential for taking human life and is a severe danger to the community."

[Related article: Apparent 'CodyyHall' Instagram Posts Flaunt Beating Speeding Ticket and Hating Police]

According to documents submitted by police to the court, Hall is believed to have been passing a vehicle on Foothill Road at about 83 miles per hour, when he lost control of his car, striking bicyclists Diana and Joe Hersevoort on June 9. 

Hall's father, Aaron Hall, was in not in court this morning after making an appearance on Tuesday when his son's case was continued. Aaron Hall, a two-time convicted felon free on bail in the midst his own legal troubles as a result of weapons and ammunition discovered during a police search related to the June 9 collision involving his son. Several other friends and family were in the courtroom in support of Hall. 

[Related article: Cody Hall's Dad Joins Son in Court]

Hall is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 5 for a preliminary hearing.

Previous Patch articles about the fatal Foothill Road collision:

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