A 25-year-old woman accused of attacking her designated driver after a night of drinking at a strip club was acquitted of all charges after a jury determined the incident was an act of self-defense, San Francisco Public Defender, Jeff Adachi, announced Friday.
Santa Rosa resident, Taylor Roberson, was heading up to the North Bay with a 26-year-old Novato woman, who was driving the vehicle, when an argument broke out over Roberson allegedly exiting the car at a stoplight to film a Facebook Live video.
According to the driver, Roberson was asked to exit the vehicle and as the woman grabbed her purse to hand over, Roberson punched her five times and kicked her once in the face.
The incident was reported to the police three day later by the driver, claiming she was not intoxicated at the time of the attack.
During the trial, Roberson testified that the driver was intoxicated and had asked her several times during the car ride to pull over and allow her to sober up. According to Roberson’s testimony, the driver threw the purse out the window, but kept the debit card. In an attempt to retrieve her card, the driver pushed her out of the moving vehicle, stranding her on Chestnut and Franklin streets at 3 a.m.
Roberson was found not guilty of one account of battery with serious bodily injury and one account of simple battery.
“The jury simply did not find the complaining witness credible. She couldn’t articulate what happened, while Ms. Roberson’s testimony was detailed and honest,” said Deputy Public Defender, Kathleen Natividad. “Jurors later said they believed both women were drinking, and the wrong woman was charged.”
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According to Deputy Public Defender, Kathleen Natividad, had the jury convicted her, Roberson would have faced up to 18 months in jail.
