Attorney Carlos Valdez persuaded the presiding judge to raise it to $500,000. When bail was announced, fans asked why the death penalty had not been sought. The Nueces County jail was deluged with death threats and there were public calls for vigilante justice. Some gang members in Texas were reported to have taken up collections to raise the bond for Saldívar so they could kill her when she was released. In prison, she faced more death threats from inmates. The Mexican Mafia, a dominant gang in the Texas penal system, reportedly placed a price on her head and spread the word that anyone who committed the crime would be a hero. Saldívar's crime was punishable by up to ninety-nine years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Saldívar was kept at Nueces County Jail under a suicide watch before her trial. The state had difficulty arranging defense counsel for Saldívar; a spokesperson said any lawyer defending Saldívar could face death threats. She was assigned a public defender named Douglas Tinker. Tinker's wife feared they would suffer from community retribution and asked him not to take the case. Arnold Garcia, a former district prosecutor, was appointed as co-counsel. Valdez, who lived a few blocks away from the Quintanilla family, chose Mark Skurka as the lead prosecutor. Judge Mike Westergren presided over the case, which was moved to the Harris County Courthouse in Houston, Texas, to ensure an impartial jury. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Selena murder trial's publicity "rivaled that of the O. J. Simpson proceedings". Westergren ordered that the trial would not be televised or taped, and limited the number of reporters in the courtroom to avoid a "repeat of the Simpson circus". The Chicago Tribune reported the division of interest in the trial between Latinos and white Americans. Donna Dickerson, a white American magazine publisher, told the Chicago Tribune she had no interest in the trial because of Selena's "Latinos background", and said Mexican-Americans had not shown the same enthusiasm when Elvis Presley was found dead. The Selena murder trial was called the "trial of the century" and the most important trial to the Latino population, and generated interest in Europe, South America, Australia, and Japan. Saldívar pleaded not guilty, saying the shooting was accidental. In his opening statement, Valdez said he believed Saldívar "deliberately killed Selena". Valdez also called it a "senseless and cowardly" act because Selena was