A judge Wednesday delayed a hearing on a motion to dismiss manslaughter charges against a former San Francisco police officer in the fatal shooting of Keita O'Neil in 2017.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has indicated she will dismiss the historic charges against Officer Christopher Samayoa in the slaying of O'Neil following a vehicle chase.
The judge decied to move the case to March 7 to give the state Attorney General's Office more time to review the case at the family's request.
"We respect the court’s decision to continue this case in order to give the Attorney General’s Office more time to review this matter," Jenkins said in a statement. "We are not opposing that decision. We understand the complexity of this case and the Attorney General’s Office’s need for more time to review this matter. We have already transferred the entire case file to the Attorney General’s office and welcome their independent review."
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Samayoa's attorney found the judge's decision "unusual."
"I think that it will ultimately be an exercise in futility," said Julia Fox, an attorney for Samayoa. "I do not think that pushing this off until Tuesday will move the needle in any meaningful way."
Family members, friends and advocates for O'Neil and other police shooting victims rallied earlier in the morning outside the Hall of Justice. Protesters briefly blocked traffic in front of the courthouse in what was otherwise a peaceful demonstration.
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The case is one of four Jenkins has dismissed or delayed, including charges against SFPD Officer Kenneth Cha in the killing of Sean Moore.
Full statement from DA Brooke Jenkins released Wednesday:
I am committed to fair and ethical prosecution, regardless of position, status or title. While I will hold police or anyone accountable who violates the law, I have a sworn duty to follow the facts and evidence wherever they may lead. We should never base charging decisions on political gain, personal ideology, or for what one perceives to be historic.
We respect the court’s decision to continue this case in order to give the Attorney General’s Office more time to review this matter. We are not opposing that decision. We understand the complexity of this case and the Attorney General’s Office’s need for more time to review this matter.
We have already transferred the entire case file to the Attorney General’s office and welcome their independent review.
We have been transparent about the facts and law, and what we have recently discovered regarding the irregularities in the issuance of this arrest warrant in this case. No one has disputed the facts or the law laid out in our letter to the Attorney General’s Office.
A fair prosecution of this case from our office is not possible because the facts and laws do not support prosecution. The prior administration’s desire to make history blinded them; they chose to press on for personal political gain. They went to extraordinary lengths to “find a path,” where there was none.
This case remained uncharged by the Gascon administration for three years prior to Boudin taking office. Boudin chose to bring charges only nine days before the statute of limitations ran out in order to help advance his political career after promising to charge police officers during his campaign.
After the lead investigator on the case refused to write the arrest warrant, Mr. Boudin personally requested an investigator that was not assigned to this case write the arrest warrant, who was promoted shortly thereafter.
The people of San Francisco elected me to restore accountability and public safety; pursuing prosecutions based on what is perceived to be good politics flies in the face of the ethics and responsibilities we have as prosecutors.
Although it would be politically expedient for me to take this case on, I shall not, as I cannot move forward ethically. None of the facts or the law are in dispute. If the facts and law in this case supported prosecution, we would have expected the Attorney General’s office to step in before we dismissed the case and take it over.
As prosecutors, we have a sacred duty to try cases in good faith, to not abuse our power and ensure that the cases we bring forward are fair in order to maintain trust in the criminal justice system.
In a text message, former District Attorney Chesa Boudin commented on the motion to dismiss saying, “The AG's office has made clear there is no conflict. Jenkins should have the courage and the honesty to prosecute the case.”
