S.F. Police Cut Radical D.A. Out of Investigations of Officer-involved Shootings

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott wrote to radical District Attorney Chesa Boudin on Wednesday to inform him that the police force was terminating an agreement that would allow the D.A. to investigate officer-involved shootings after evidence emerged that the D.A.’s office withheld exculpatory evidence.

As Breitbart News reported on Saturday:

The office of the San Francisco District Attorney has been accused of withholding potentially exculpatory evidence in a case against a police officer charged with using excessive force, as a whistleblower told a court she feared being fired if she included it.

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 Thursday 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 that Boudin — and his predecessor — withheld evidence is being taken seriously enough by police that Chief William Scott sent an email to officers throughout the department, saying the claim was of “serious concern” to him.

Scott has now terminated the agreement with Boudin’s office, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, giving 15 days’ notice and allowing Boudin to schedule a meeting to discuss the matter within five days.

Boudin’s office reacted angrily, as did San Francisco Police Commissioner John Hamasaki. A spokesperson for Boudin said that Chief Scott was only terminating the agreement because one of his officers was facing trial — as anticipated by the deal — and Commissioner Hamasaki accused Scott of tampering with the jury by creating the public impression that the DA’s prosecution had been improper.

The Chronicle added: “Boudin’s office is currently prosecuting six officers in five separate use-of-force cases. The cases underscore what was a key tenet of the progressive prosecutor’s campaign: holding officers accountable for wrongdoing.”

Boudin currently faces a recall election in June, after being elected in 2019 on promises of criminal justice reform, including a pledge to stop prosecuting “quality of life” crimes like public urination.

He has publicly opposed Mayor London Breed’s effort to crack down on crime and drugs in the Tenderloin district. He is the son of a member of the terrorist Weather Underground group, who was imprisoned for his role in a bank heist in which two police officers and a security guard were murdered.

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.

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