San Francisco Police Officer Acquitted of Assault After D.A.'s Office Accused of Withholding Evidence

Conservative News DailyMarch 13, 2022

San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Officer Terrence Stangel was acquitted Monday of assault and battery against a suspect in a domestic violence call, after the office of District Attorney Chesa Boudin was accused of withholding evidence in the case.

As Breitbart News previously reported:

Officer Terrance Stangel is on trial for beating a black man, Dacari Spiers, with his baton after responding to a 911 call reporting a domestic violence incident at Fisherman’s Wharf, a popular tourist destination. Radical left-wing D.A. Chesa Boudin filed charges in December 2020, implying that the officer was racist: “This case is an example of an officer unnecessarily escalating a situation and then violently beating a Black man whom he had no legal basis to even arrest.”

Magen Hayashi, an investigator for the D.A.’s office, testified … that she had signed an affidavit to show probable cause for the prosecution though she excluded evidence from a witness who saw the alleged victim assaulting his girlfriend.

The claim of withholding evidence prompted SFPD Chief Bill Scott to terminate an agreement with Boudin to cooperate in the investigation of allegations of brutality by police officers.

On Monday, a jury in San Francisco acquitted Officer Stangel, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported:

A jury found San Francisco Police Officer Terrance Stangel not guilty of assault and battery charges he faced for striking a man with a baton while on duty in 2019, closing a chapter on a landmark police use-of-force case in the city.

The verdict came on what was the fourth day of deliberations after weeks of testimony from officers, experts, witnesses, Stangel and the alleged victim, Dacari Spiers.

Jurors said they were unable to reach consensus on a charge of assault under the color of authority, with nine jurors voting “not guilty” and three voting “guilty.” Judge Teresa Caffese declared a mistrial on the fourth count, and prosecutors did not immediately announce whether they plan to refile that charge.

Boudin said in a statement that he was “disappointed” in the verdict. The judge in the case sharply rebuked the D.A.’s office for seeking a future court date: ““Don’t you think it’s time to move forward?” she asked, according to Mission Local.

Boudin faces a recall election in June, after disgruntled residents, outraged at the city’s rising crime and lawlessness, and at his radical “criminal justice reform” policies, organized a successful signature campaign to put a recall on the ballot. Three local school board members were recalled in February.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.