The attorney for the 19-year-old man whose alleged attempt to flee cops led to a horrific New Year’s Day car crash that killed two innocent people in the Mission district said his client “is very upset over the whole matter” and is “not a callous person.” Read More
A man accused of burning down his 81-year-old mother’s Cow Hollow home two years ago was acquitted of seven attempted murder charges Thursday because the fire was “the unintended result of a botched suicide attempt,” according to the Public Defender’s Office.
After five hours of deliberating, a jury found 55-year-old Niels Conrad not guilty of the serious charges connected to the March 4, 2010, blaze on Broderick Street. Read More
Two women accused of starting a fight at a baseball game that ended with an injury to a 60-year-old woman were acquitted late last week after witnesses gave muddled and conflicting accounts of what happened, according to the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. Read More
A retrial is expected in a San Francisco cold case murder in which DNA evidence failed to lead to a conviction Tuesday.
Just three of the 12 jurors believed there was enough evidence — even after matching DNA samples — to convict 48-year-old William Payne of strangling to death 41-year-old Nikolaus Crumbley while raping him in a car in John McLaren Park on Nov. 16, 1983. Read More
A San Francisco jury acquitted a Potrero Terrace woman of murder charges in the stabbing death of another woman last year, the Public Defender’s Office announced Tuesday.
After a nine-day trial, Maria Elena Burgos, 49, was found to have acted in self-defense when she stabbed Ernestine “Buttercup” Herron, 26, in the neck during a confrontation on a street in the housing projects where both women lived, according to the defense. Read More
Prosecutors spent more than $2,000 in taxpayer money on a prostitute’s hotel stay so she could testify against a man who was wrongly accused of assaulting and trying to pimp her, the Public Defender’s Office said.
And even while the woman was snookering The City, she reportedly continued advertising her services online. Read More
French nuns who run a Tenderloin soup kitchen have had their prayers answered, authorities said, after their alleged stalker earned a three-year state prison sentence for failing to show up to a court date. Read More
In San Francisco, connecting a ballot measure or a candidate to republicans can be a death sentence. That’s exactly what the Yes on C, No On D campaign is attempting to do with progressive Public Defender Jeff Adachi. Read More
A BART protester will return to court today for allegedly igniting Icy Hot, a topical pain reliever, at an Aug. 22 protest in San Francisco.
On Aug. 24, Ryan Ragle, 27, pleaded not guilty to felony charges of possessing an incendiary device and resisting arrest. Ragle is scheduled to appear in court today to set a preliminary hearing. Read More
Maybe 9/11 weekend isn’t the best time to attack the police and fire departments with political ads.On Monday, police and fire labor leaders blasted Public Defender Jeff Adachi over political fliers they say Adachi’s campaign distributed during the weekend accusing the public safety workers of cutting a “backroom deal” with Mayor Ed Lee. Read More
