OCEANSIDE : Bail Cut for Accused in Brother’s Killing

A judge Monday lowered the bail of an 18-year-old Oceanside man accused of murdering his brother during an argument after a basketball game in their back yard.

Vista Municipal Judge Suzanne Knauf lowered the bail of Steve Anthony Buchanan from $100,000 to $40,000, an amount that the family feels it will be able to raise.

Knauf’s decision comes after a psychologist’s examination of Buchanan that established that he suffered from “moderate depression,” but that he was “not actively suicidal.”

On Saturday, Buchanan was allowed to attend the funeral of his 20-year-old brother, Orlando Raul Buchanan Jr., under the supervision of a California Highway Patrol officer paid for by the family. The officer determined that Buchanan was not a flight risk and allowed him to attend the services without restraints.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Valliant told the court that, because of the seriousness of the crime and because Buchanan has relatives in Ecuador and Panama, he poses a serious flight risk.

Buchanan is accused of picking up a 7-inch kitchen knife and plunging it into his brother’s chest, severing the aorta, during a fight April 16.

“Someone who wields a knife in a fight of this kind . . . at least to us, appears to indicate a serious danger to society,” Valliant said.