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GRAFTON, N.D. — Three brothers accused of severely beating a young Grafton man at random while he was picking up a pizza are out of jail. All three bonded out after they made their first court appearances on assault charges Monday morning, April 11.
Bail for Christobal Garza, Jacob Garza and Jason Garza was set at various amounts, ranging from $25,000 to $7,500, based on their previous criminal history.
Their releases come with a number of conditions including, no alcohol and a curfew of 10 p.m. each night.
"They didn't have anything to do with this, whatsoever," said their attorney, Ted Sandberg.
In a rare legal scenario, Sandberg is representing all three brothers.
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"When it doesn't look like there's any conceivable way in which these individuals are going to turn on each other," he explained for representing all three.
The brothers are accused of beating, stomping and kicking 20-year-old Kurtis Graver outside the Last Chance Bar two weekends ago. Graver says he was sitting alone in his car as his friend ran inside to pickup some pizzas, when the Garza brothers attacked him by surprise.
Graver suffered a concussion, broken nose and jaw. Doctors are worried about permanent eye and hearing damage.
"It's a case of mistaken identity or a misidentity," said Sandberg.
Sandberg said the brothers told him they couldn't be the guys because they were involved in a separate argument inside the bar with a different group at the same time Graver was attacked.
The owner of the bar previously described it as a fight, prompting the bartender to kick the Garza brothers out.
"My clients would say, 'Well, maybe that's why they think it was us,' or something along those lines," Sandberg said. "They were at the bar. They were in an altercation, or an argument at least, with other people completely unrelated."
All three will be back in court next month. If convicted, each brother faces a maximum of five years in prison.
