Published since 2005. San Francisco is a city that belongs to the people of the world. Hence this blog has a global focus. The name "Sam Spade's San Francisco" refers to an exciting era in the City's history, the time of Dashiell Hammett's fictional gumshoe and San Francisco character, Sam Spade. My name is Tom Dunn and I edit the blog. I'm not as exciting as Sam Spade, but I am definitely a San Francisco character.Contact or on Twitter -- Search blog below.
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Monday, March 13, 2006
Was this not murder?
Last week San Francisco Police homicide inspectors arrested Kyle Adams, 24, and charged him with manslaughter. To everyone familiar with the death of Chad Ferreira, 27, who was allegedly beaten to death by Adams earlier this year on Castro Street between Market and 18th, the charge should have been murder.
At one point Adams is said to have beaten Ferreira unconscious and knocked him to the sidewalk. Witnesses said Adams walked away, returned, and kicked Ferreira in the head after he was already unconscious.
To most observers this is a clear case of murder, but not to San Francisco Chief Assistant District Attorney Russ Giuntini. He said it is a problematic case. He is not sure he and his department can win a murder conviction. The best they can hope for is a simple manslaughter conviction.
Hastings law professor Rory Little told the Bay Area Reporter that there have been cases with similar circumstances to Ferreira's killing in which defendants have been convicted of murder. You can read the full story in the B.A.R.here.
District Attorney Kamala Harris has often been criticized for under-charging cases. The Ferreira case is an example of weak prosecution after competent police work. We don't need a District Attorney's office that doesn't think it can win cases. We need a District Attorney's office that is tough as nails. The SFPD and the people of San Francisco deserve and demand much better than we are getting. We want prosecutors, not wimps.
The next time you wonder why the San Francisco Police Department has trouble dealing with the City's murders, kidnappings, rapes and assaults, keep in mind that the SFPD turns the cases over to the DA's office which, in turn, has the responsibility for filing charges. This is the point where things begin to break down. Unfortunately, the San Francisco District Attorney's office has a reputation of under-charging cases which means, in turn, that the offenders are soon back on the streets causing more trouble for us all.
Kamala Harris is a talented and capable attorney. She can produce better than she is giving us. Why doesn't she step up to the plate and knock one out of the park ... at least once!
Come on, Kamala, you're up to bat.
1 comments:
Anonymous said...
When Kamala harris was running for office against terry hallinan she kept pounding away at how law and weak Hallinan was a District Attorney in dealing with drug cases. She promised everybody she would be tough.
Now she has has a reputation herself of letting serious criminals get by with lesser charges. She has not even supported the SF Police when they wanted her office to prospecute to the max.
I think she wants a recoird wiuth a lot of convictions even though the convictions are for lesser charges. That way she will "look good" at re-election time. She will be able to tell everyone what a wonderful "conviction" rate she has.
1 comments:
When Kamala harris was running for office against terry hallinan she kept pounding away at how law and weak Hallinan was a District Attorney in dealing with drug cases. She promised everybody she would be tough.
Now she has has a reputation herself of letting serious criminals get by with lesser charges. She has not even supported the SF Police when they wanted her office to prospecute to the max.
I think she wants a recoird wiuth a lot of convictions even though the convictions are for lesser charges. That way she will "look good" at re-election time. She will be able to tell everyone what a wonderful "conviction" rate she has.
Who in hell does she think she is fooling?
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