Local News in Brief : Mother’s Bail Lowered in School Cocaine Case

Over the objections of prosecutors, a Van Nuys Municipal Court commissioner Wednesday lowered bail for a Topanga Canyon woman whose 7-year-old daughter brought a golf ball-sized chunk of cocaine to school where she and nine of her classmates tasted it.

Commissioner Patricia Gorner Schwartz lowered bail for Maria Christina Torres from $100,000 to $25,000. Torres pleaded not guilty before Schwartz to one count each of possession of cocaine for sale and felony child endangering.

Schwartz scheduled Torres’ preliminary hearing on the charges for Aug. 8.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Tracy Watson, who argued that Torres’ bail should remain at $100,000, said after the hearing that the $25,000 bail is still five times the normal bail for the offenses with which Torres is charged.

Watson said she sought the higher figure because Torres was able to secure $100,000 bail within a few hours of her arrest June 13 by Los Angeles police.

A representative of the bail bondsman who provided the bail for Torres’ release on June 13 told Schwartz he no longer wants to be responsible for guaranteeing Torres’ future court appearances. Schwartz agreed to the request.

Torres, 39, a Colombian national, was arrested after her daughter brought the chunk of cocaine to Canoga Park Lutheran School.

While free on the original bail, Torres was arrested June 16 for a probation violation in an earlier federal case involving her failure to report taking currency out of the country. She also posted bail in that case.

If convicted of the charges, Torres could receive a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Diamond.