A hearing for 25-year-old Mark Cason Garrett to determine if his bail bond would be reinstated was delayed Thursday until further notice.
Ector County Court Administrator Tina Commander said Garrett had become ill prior to the scheduled hearing. It was unclear as to what illness Garrett had acquired or its severity. The Ector County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Thursday 10 cases of the flu and 40 cases of inmates with a form of an upper respiratory illness at the detention center.
Garret’s defense attorney Justin Low said the jail has quarantined inmates from those that are healthy. Sheriff Mike Griffis said treatment is being administered for those inmates and they are being isolated as a preventative measure for public health.
“We don’t want to put them in the courthouse among the public and county employees and expose them any more than they already are,” Griffis said. “The flu can be deadly to some folks.”
Garrett was arrested June 22, 2017, after police reported he drove a 2017 Dodge Challenger that collided with an ice cream van on Yukon Road while intoxicated. The incident caused the vehicles to burst into flames and resulted in the deaths of the three passengers inside the van — Richard Mackrell, 63; his wife, Barbara Mackrell, 46; and fellow passenger Angel Pierce, 28. The wreck seriously injured Garrett and his three passengers, Maurice Green, Mikaila Bazan and Alexis Dominguez.
Garrett faces 12 felony charges, including intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault and aggravated assault.
Garrett bonded out of jail in June 2017, under conditions that he wear a GPS monitor and alcohol monitor at all times. He was also prohibited from going to any establishment that collected more than 51 percent of its sales from alcohol.
Before his indictment, social media posts and video showed him drinking at Hooters and another Odessa sports bar. Garrett’s initial bond amounts totaling $155,000 were raised to $250,000 and he was conditionally placed under home confinement.
Garret then violated his bond conditions by failing to notify the proper person that he had been summoned to court and would be leaving his home and tested positive for marijuana in a urine analysis test. District Attorney Bobby Bland said his office filed a motion to revoke his bond after Garrett tested positive for the drug.
In September 2017, Judge Denn Whalen of the 70th District Court who is presiding over the case, ruled at the time to revoke Garrett’s bond and he was sent back to jail. Whalen also denied his request for a bail bond in November 2017. Jail records show Garrett has been in custody since September 2017.
Low previously told the OA a person is constitutionally entitled to have a bail bond in any case other than cases of capital murder or some family violence cases.
Commander said at this time the hearing has not been rescheduled.
