Newsom-Appointed Judge Nichelle Holmes Once Said “Justice Sometimes Means a Dismissal,” After Release Linked to Fatal Stabbing, Fox Reports

A California judge appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Nichelle Holmes, has come under renewed scrutiny after a Fox News report tied her prior rulings to a fatal stabbing case, according to the report published on August 14, 2026. Fox said Holmes had once described the meaning of justice in terms that included dismissals, and that she later released Marcos Iriarte-Valdez before he was alleged to have killed Todd Stewart, 68.

Fox reported that Holmes, in earlier remarks, said “justice sometimes means a dismissal.” The report did not describe the full procedural history of the earlier case in which the quote was made, but it presented the statement as part of Holmes’s judicial perspective on outcomes in criminal proceedings.

Separately, Fox described the events it said followed Holmes’s decision to release Iriarte-Valdez. The report alleged that after being freed, Iriarte-Valdez went on to kill Todd Stewart in a stabbing, with Stewart identified by Fox as 68 years old. Fox did not, in the description provided, lay out the specific timing between Holmes’s release order and the fatal incident, nor did it cite a court order or charging document in the initial packet.

The reported sequence highlights how criminal custody decisions can affect public safety outcomes while also raising due-process considerations that are embedded in the criminal justice system. Decisions to release defendants before trial, based on bond conditions or other pretrial standards, typically operate within rules set by statute and court procedure, and they are generally subject to review mechanisms that can vary by county and case posture.

Fox did not provide, in the supplied summary, the prosecution’s arguments on why Iriarte-Valdez should not have been released, nor did it specify whether the release decision involved a bail determination, a sentencing-related early-release scenario, or another type of order. Without those additional details from the court record, the reporting remains an account of allegations and a linkage between a prior quote and subsequent events described by Fox.

The case also raises questions about how courts communicate legal reasoning and how the public interprets outcomes that may appear counterintuitive in hindsight. While the quote attributed to Holmes suggests an approach that can lead to dismissals in some circumstances, the legal standard for release decisions depends on the facts of each case, including the evidentiary posture and the applicable standards for custody and supervision.