By Zack Rosenfeld
News Editor
And Diane Lee
Staff Writer
Due to a lack of evidence, the trial for former Mira Costa senior Khalid Davis, who allegedly threatened a Mira Costa administrator, was dismissed on Feb. 15 in the Torrance Superior Court- house.
The Manhattan Beach Police Department arrested Davis off campus on Dec. 7 for allegedly violating Penal Code 422.
This code states that any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death shall be punished.
Davis was sent to jail with bail set at $500,000, and he pleaded not guilty on Dec. 9. Torrance Judge Thomas Sokolov then sent him back to jail with an order to appear back in court on Dec. 23.
According to the official court document, Davis motioned to be released and have his bail reduced during the Dec. 23 hearing. However, Sokolov denied the motion and ordered Davis to appear back in court on Jan. 4.
On that day, Davis was given a civil restraining order requiring him to stay 100 yards away from the administrator who he allegedly threatened. He was released from custody on Feb. 1 and on Feb. 15 the case was dropped due to a lack of evidence.
According to Mira Costa Principal Ben Dale, the MBPD arrested Davis after a person close to Davis reported his intentions to assault the administrator. When the police found Davis had materials to harm the administrator, he was jailed until Dec. 9. Since then, he has been in and out of jail.
Dale explained that the court case became complicated when the person close to the student allegedly denied that he or she had initially said that Davis had no criminal intentions.
“This case has become very messy,” Dale said. “It’s like an episode of ‘Jerry Springer.’”
In January, Dale had expressed his wishes for Davis to not come back to Mira Costa even if he were found innocent. Dale was worried that Davis would have had a hard time going back to a normal school life.
“My position is that the student should not come back to Mira Costa, not because of punitive reasons but out of concern for the student,” Dale said in January.
La Vista decided not to print the name of the administrator at the request of Mira Costa officials.
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