By Julian Verdon
SACRAMENTO – After a bizarre robbery charge, where the defendant allegedly threw a fortune cookie at a Target employee, he flip flopped on whether to take a plea deal or to fight the case.
Assistant Public Defender Susannah Martin initially wanted her client, Kenneth Adefunmi, released on his own recognizance, with no bail required.
The PD noted, “Mr. Adefunmi does have a record. However, all misdemeanors, but for (one) in 2019 that he got 90 days (in jail) on … In this case he’s at Target, and the complaining witness says that Mr. Adefunmi was causing a disturbance in the (store).
“He asked him to leave, and (the defendant) took a fighting stance, threw a fortune cookie at him, and threatened to return with his boys. (He) grabbed some items from his cart and left the store. He was found nearby with $45 worth of items.”
According to APD Martin, Adefunmi claims that employees at Target asked him to leave the store for no reason, explaining, “They were very aggressive with him. They took his phone and his wallet and did not return (them). And then he was treated very roughly by the officers when he was arrested even though he was cooperative.”
Martin went on to say that Adefunmi held multiple odd jobs so he can support himself and his teenage son. She also explained that the prosecution’s plea deal offered a strike, and Adefunmi wished to fight the case out of custody.
Deputy District Attorney Kitty Tetrault then reminded the court that Adefunmi had another case as well. Adefunmi had been in an unoccupied home when a real estate agent confronted him. He had 
broken a window in the house and would not cooperate with the agent as he yelled profanities at them.
“I would object to his release,” said DDA Tetrault, adding that “he has two pending cases from Oct. 24 and Oct. 31. So, they’re about a week apart from one another. He has nine prior failures to appear.
“He was causing a disturbance at Target by yelling, cussing. The employees at Target asked him to leave, which they have every right to do. He started intentionally running his motorized wheelchair into the displays and then became aggressive with them, threw the fortune cookie, and threatened to come back with his boys,” argued the DDA.
The judge agreed and said he would not release Adefunmi.
Martin then said since Adefunmi would not get released, her client would like to resolve the issue and accept the prosecution’s plea offer. The plea would release Adefunmi later that day.
However, right before agreeing to the plea deal and forgoing his right to a trial, Adefunmi asked if bail reduction was possible.
“Well, you don’t need a bail reduction if you are going to get out in a few hours,” explained the judge.
“I’ll take the plea,” said Adefunmi, “but if you could get reduced to something like $1000, I got it on my books, and I can take care of it and go ahead and go. That way, I can close out my bail, and I can come back to court. But if not, then I go ahead and plead.”
Adefunmi then explained that he would like to prove his innocence in court, but he does not have the money to post his current bail of $50,000. Tetrault said the prosecution would not lower the bail below $50,000.
Adefunmi then said he would take the plea, leaving him on two years of probation with restitution in an amount to be determined and a promise to stay away from the Target.
Julian Verdon is a senior at UCLA majoring in English. He is from Los Angeles, California.
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