Newsom-appointed judge freed migrant before fatal stabbing, said justice sometimes means dismissal

Judge Nichelle Holmes, appointed by Newsom in 2024, freed Marcos Iriarte-Valdez before he allegedly killed Todd Stewart, 68.

Summary

Judge Nichelle Holmes released Marcos Iriarte-Valdez before he was accused of fatally stabbing Todd Stewart, 68, the next day.
Holmes was appointed to the bench by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024.
In 2017 Holmes said justice sometimes means dismissal, a quote resurfacing after the Stewart killing.
The sequence renewed California debate over pretrial release, migrant crime, and judicial philosophy on leniency.
Victims advocates argue the case is another example of catch-and-release courts meeting vulnerable seniors.

Dismissal is not justice when the released defendant kills a retiree within 24 hours. Newsom's appointee wrote the script activists deny exists.

Soft-on-crime benches are a policy choice. Voters should connect Holmes' 2017 quote to Stewart's name every election cycle.

ICE removals and state pretrial reform are the same fight: will the law protect Todd Stewart or the ideology that freed Iriarte-Valdez?

Did Holmes' dismissal philosophy cost Todd Stewart?

u/stewart_neighbor · 5h

Stewart was 68. Holmes freed the man accused of killing him next day.

u/newsom_track · 4h

Newsom picked Holmes in 2024. Own the appointment.

u/pretrial_fair · 4h

Mass incarceration created this. More releases are moral.

u/senior_advocate · 3h

Seniors pay when judges treat dismissal as virtue signaling.

u/holmes_quote · 3h

2017 quote: justice sometimes means dismissal. Stewart got no justice.

u/campus_bail · 2h

Punishing poverty, not protecting Stewart.

u/docket_rat · 2h

Stewart is dead. That is the outcome, not the theory.

u/tokyo_ally · 90m

Serious countries do not gamble seniors on judicial poetry.

u/press_clip · 70m

Fox tied Holmes to Newsom and the 2017 line. Keep Stewart's name in the headline.