Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez pleaded not guilty Friday to an attempted murder in Santa Clara County (California), his attorney Mark Geragos told ESPN.
Velasquez, 40, is being charged attempted murder and 10 other gun-related charges stemming from an incident where he allegedly chased a man, Harry Goularte – who was being accused of molesting a young relative of Velasquez – and fired a gun at Goularte’s car, hitting his father Goularte’s uncle, Paul Bender. Velasquez has been in prison since February 28 and was denied bail on three separate occasions.
A pre-trial hearing of the case is scheduled for September 26, where Geragos expects to be able to get witnesses to testify, the attorney said. If the case is not dismissed by that time, he said, it will go to trial, possibly starting before the end of the year.
Geragos said the prosecution would not call on Goularte to testify at the pre-trial hearing or at the trial, which he called “nonsense”. There will be a motion hearing on August 29 to discuss whether Goularte’s failure to testify was fair to Velasquez. Geragos said one charge Velasquez is facing that could land him in jail is conspiracy to commit murder and that Goularte is the alleged victim of this charge.
Goularte was released from custody on February 25 without bail after being arrested for lewdness or lewd conduct with a child under the age of 14.
“They are desperately trying to escape that the system has failed Cain,” said Geragos. “They don’t want to get caught up in that. They want to try a divorce case against reality.”
Geragos added that he finds it contradictory that the same office is adjudicating both Velasquez and Goularte in their respective cases, saying it is serving “two masters”.
Velasquez followed Goularte’s truck with his own in an “11-mile, high-speed chase” through San Jose, crashing into the truck and firing a multiple 40mm shotgun. entered the truck carrying Goularte, Bender and Goularte’s. mother, Patricia, according to the DA office. Bender was hit by a bullet, although his injuries were not life-threatening.
Relatives of Velasquez, under the age of 10, told police on February 24 that Goularte took them into the bathroom of a day care center and touched their genitals, according to a court document . The child said Goularte said not to tell anyone what happened and that the situation could have happened “100 times”. The child told police they also witnessed Goularte go into the bathroom with other children.
The nursery is owned by Goularte’s mother. She and Goularte have denied any wrongdoing. Velasquez’s family also filed a malpractice and sexual battery lawsuit against Goularte, Patricia and Bender.
Goularte pleaded guilty to his charges in June and is scheduled for another court date for September 20.
