Stockton City Council District 5 candidate Desiree Lynch was granted permission Thursday to travel to Atlanta next week for a wedding under a temporary modification of her pretrial release conditions.
Lynch appeared in San Joaquin County Superior Court with defense attorney Kirk Holmen, who was filling in for her regular attorney, Allen Sawyer. Deputy District Attorney Jeff Derman appeared for the prosecution. Lynch did not enter a plea Thursday.
Lynch’s defense also requested that her further arraignment be continued to 8:30 a.m. Nov. 16 in Department 8C, citing the need to review discovery. Martinez approved the request, and Lynch was ordered to appear at the next hearing.
Sawyer had requested that Lynch be allowed to fly to Atlanta from Oct. 10 through Oct. 12 to attend a wedding. He said Lynch would provide her travel itinerary and any other requested travel information to pretrial services and would continue to comply with all other conditions of her release.
Judge Chrishna Martinez approved the request, which is limited to the three-day trip and does not permanently change Lynch’s travel restrictions or any other condition of her release.
It was the second time since Sept. 16 that Martinez has granted Lynch a temporary modification allowing her to travel out of state by air. Court records show Lynch previously traveled out of state from Sept. 17 through Sept. 20 to attend a family event.
Lynch faces six felony charges stemming from an investigation into whether she falsely claimed addresses in Stockton when registering to vote and qualifying as a candidate for Stockton City Council District 5.
The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office initially charged Lynch with five felonies on Aug. 18: three counts of perjury, one count of causing, procuring or allowing false voter registration and one count of filing a false declaration of candidacy.
Prosecutors added a sixth felony charge — possession of an assault weapon — in an amended complaint filed Sept. 2, the day of Lynch’s arraignment.
During a six-week investigation into Lynch’s residency, investigators seized an assault rifle that prosecutors described as illegal while serving a search warrant at a north Stockton residence, according to the district attorney’s office, which described the investigation as a public corruption case.
Lynch was arrested Aug. 19 by the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations on a warrant alleging five felony election-related offenses. Her bail was set at $100,000, and she was released from the San Joaquin County Jail several hours later. She has remained out of custody since.
Prosecutors allege Lynch used two Stockton addresses where she did not live to register to vote and qualify for the District 5 race. According to the district attorney’s office, investigators determined Lynch lived outside District 5 — in Lodi and north Stockton’s District 1 — rather than at the addresses she listed on her voter registration and candidate filing paperwork.
According to prosecutors, Lynch perjured herself by using residential addresses where she did not live to register to vote and file as a candidate.
Investigators allege Lynch used 407 E. Charter Way, the address for Harry’s Cocktail Lounge, also known as East Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and 625 E. Oak St., the address for Doyle Garden Apartments, to establish a false residency in Stockton.
The three perjury charges allege offenses occurring on or about Nov. 10, 2025, Feb. 5, 2026, and March 2, 2026. The false voter registration and false candidacy declaration charges cover the period from Nov. 10, 2025, through Aug. 17, 2026, according to the district attorney’s office.
The bureau of investigations conducted the investigation after receiving a referral from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office following the June 2 primary election.
Lynch withdrew from the race for the second time Aug. 24, shortly after her arrest, with Sawyer saying she wanted to focus on caring for her daughter and her family. Her name will remain on the Nov. 3 general election ballot against incumbent District 5 Councilmember Brando Villapudua because she withdrew after the deadline for removing a candidate’s name.
Under the California Elections Code, a municipal candidate may withdraw nomination papers until the 88th day before an election. For the Nov. 3 election, the deadline was Aug. 7.
If convicted on all six felony counts, Lynch could face up to seven years and four months in state prison, according to the district attorney’s office.