(From Press Release) – A young man shown on video in a physical confrontation with BART police has been acquitted of four counts of battery on a police officer, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today.
Jurors deliberated two days before finding Michael Smith, 22, not guilty Wednesday afternoon of the four counts. Jurors deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquittal on two additional counts of battery on a police officer and one count of resisting arrest. Prosecutors on Friday are expected to announce whether they will dismiss the remaining charges or retry Smith.
All counts are misdemeanors and Smith faced a year in jail if convicted, said Adachi, who defended Smith at trial.
Cell phone video of Smith’s July 29 arrest at San Francisco’s Embarcadero Station showed BART police officers struggling with Smith on the platform, at one point punching him in the head while he is pinned on his stomach.
Smith and his pregnant girlfriend, who are African American, had been traveling to a doctor’s appointment when a white man on the train reportedly told them they smelled bad and to move away, sparking an argument. The white man then called police and falsely reported that Smith had threatened to rob him, Adachi said, telling dispatch that Smith may have had a gun.
When the unarmed couple stepped off the train, they were immediately confronted by officers, who tackled Smith and ordered his girlfriend to the ground.
Jurors watched several videos in which Smith begins to struggle when he sees an officer press a knee into his girlfriend’s back as she lies on her stomach on the platform. Smith can be heard calling out to the officer that his girlfriend is pregnant.
Placing a pregnant woman on her stomach and handcuffing her hands behind her body are violations of BART police protocol, Adachi argued at trial.
Following the verdict, jurors explained that they were troubled that officers never attempted to explain to the couple why they were violently detained.
“Jurors agreed that BART police officers used too much force and jumped to conclusions about Michael. They felt the situation could have been resolved without that level of violence. Michael had no idea why he was being stopped, or why officers had swept his legs out from under him and pinned him to the platform,” Adachi said.
The trial process had been fraught with controversy, with Adachi attempting to have Judge Anne-Christine Massullo removed for bias after she ruled that the defense could not mention Oscar Grant or Black Lives Matter to prospective jurors in the racially-charged case, nor provide evidence of the confrontation on the train. After Adachi’s request was denied, Massullo remained on the case but appeared visibly angry, at one point telling Adachi on the record that “you filed a meritless challenge against me and it was a big waste of time.”
Adachi said he was relieved Smith was acquitted despite tension on the bench and the absence of a single black juror.
“The jury was very intelligent and sensitive to issues of racial profiling and police brutality,” Adachi said. “My hope is that this case will make us take a closer look at excessive force among BART police officers. We owe it to the next Michael Smith that steps off the train.”
“The trial process had been fraught with controversy, with Adachi attempting to have Judge Anne-Christine Massullo removed for bias after she ruled that the defense could not mention Oscar Grant or Black Lives Matter to prospective jurors in the racially-charged case, nor provide evidence of the confrontation on the train. After Adachi’s request was denied, Massullo remained on the case but appeared visibly angry, at one point telling Adachi on the record that “you filed a meritless challenge against me and it was a big waste of time.”
I need some lawyerly assistance understanding this part of the proceedings. If I can be eliminated, as I have been several times as a potential juror because I was questioned about my profession, how is it that potential jurors could not be exposed to mention of or questions about their attitude towards Black Lives Matter ?
But much more importantly, how is it that the evidence of the confrontation on the train, which presumably set the stage for all that ensued could not be presented ? It seems that regardless of the final decision regarding Judge Massullo’s ability to remain on the case, it would not seem to be “meritless” and one would then need to consider whether her anger over the challenge itself might not serve to bias her subsequent judgements and instructions.
If Trump is a “racist” for wanting to get rid of a judge with brown skin in a trial of a white guy wouldn’t that also make Adachi a “racist” for wanting to get rid of a judge with white skin in the trial of a black guy?
South of Davis
What in the article led you to believe that the judge in question has “white skin” ? Do you have independent knowledge of this judge or was that just your assumption ?
I believe that Mr. Adachi’s objections, as reported, were based on her refusal to allow issues of jury selection and ultimately of fact to not be considered, not the color of anyone’s skin.
Clearly not so in the case of the president elect who was explicit that his objection was to the judge’s Mexican heritage.
So we’re not only going to be subjected to Jeff Adachi’s views on the justice system we are now going to get articles about his court cases too from San Francisco?
BP
Thanks for my first Vanguard induced, insomnia fueled smile of the day.
It always amazes me how two people, reading exactly the same words can prioritize the information so very differently. I immediately went to the details of the case. You immediately went to the fact that it was a case of Mr. Adachi.
I should have probably mentioned this was the trial that Adachi was talking about our event.
This is a story written by one person, a public defender who was invested mightily in the trial and its outcome. Adachi reminds us he formally charged the judge with demonstrated bias. Such allegation are rare.
The subsequent verdict of acquittal would seem to call into question that the bias allegation was meritorious. It certainly had no bearing on the ultimate verdict and how it was determined. Instead, it takes on the “appearance” of a self-promotion, particularly in the content of a press release. Press releases by public defenders–how many other PD’s do this?
Only Adachi said the judge had the “appearance” of anger. That’s incriminating, and was meant to be. But it was also an opinion based on a sole observation.
If we’re being asked to judge the judge’s obligation to be fair and objective, can we take a look at the accuser? How unbiased was this public defender in preparing a press release depicting events that publicly showed him in a most favorable light?
Phil
I agree with the content of your post of 7:45 am and would still be interested in your answers to the questions that I posed at 4:37 and 4:50 am.
On another note, are there charges filed against the man who made the false report in the first place ? Would not the more rationale approach to someone “smelling bad” be to get up and move yourself ? What is the penalty for a false report with the potential for life threatening harm should the police act in haste ( or fear for their lives) given the false report of a possible gun ?
How about charges of excessive force against the officers who apparently broke their protocol for correct procedure in detaining a pregnant woman ? ( Depending of course upon her stage of gestation since they probably would not be able to tell at <16 -20 weeks). But did they get her repositioned immediately upon his statement that she was pregnant ?
This appears to be a case of riding the train “while black” unless the questions above are being followed up on by SF investigators with equal zeal to that brought to charging Mr. Smith.
Yeah, that must be it, always the ‘go to’ conclusion.
But just maybe the fact that they were reported to be carrying a gun had something to do with the treatment they received regardless of race.
I agree that Mr. Smith should be investigated. They can trace his number. If he filed a false report than he should be held responsible.
False or slanted reports to the police, prompting them to respond with erroneous expectations happens constantly. “Held responsible,” never happens. Never.
Phillip wrote:
> “Held responsible,” never happens. Never.
I know it is “almost” never, but it looks like they got this girl (now if they could just crack down on all the women getting divorced who say their husband molested the kids)…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/12/15/she-claimed-she-was-attacked-by-men-who-yelled-trump-and-grabbed-her-hijab-police-say-she-lied/?utm_term=.8d1953f2d0c0
Phillip
““Held responsible,” never happens. Never.”
Why is that in your opinion ?
If I make a knowingly false report, say claiming an individual has a gun, and the outcome is that the police shoot and kill the individual based on fear fueled by my false report….. I have no responsibility in this ? Really ?
BP
“Yeah, that must be it, always the ‘go to’ conclusion.”
This is far, far from my “always to to conclusion”. Please quote even one time prior when I have made the assumption that something was done on the basis of race. However, in this particular case, their is reason to suspect that race might have played a role at least in some people’s thinking based on the judge barring any mention of the “Black Lives Matter” issue. I noted this on the basis of that finding, not because it has ever been a “go to” for me.
The jury acquitted him, so the BLM thing didn’t matter as it turned out. I’m sure the BLM question was an attempt to weed out potential jurors who might not be sympathetic to that cause and vice versa keep those who are.
You’re kidding, right?
The concern was that the judge did not want to question jurors about their views on matters relating to racial bias
“Black” is a term used to define race… however necessary/unnecessary, depending on context. [a headline of “Black man accused of jay-walking”, would, under all contexts I can think of, be unnecessary, and inappropriate]
“Black Lives Matter” is basically a political/social construct. Race could have been raised as an issue absent “BLM”.
Concrete evidence that the tides are shifting in the direction of TRUTH however inconvenient…
I am hopeful again, as I was in the 60s/70s, that this USA will become a better place again for ALL…
PS> I no longer have time to read the articles and am replying to the headlines.
hasta la vista mi amigas/amigos
most police reports are likely false.. especially in areas of minorities and gangs and also in the unlikely case of a white senior citizen outside of Dixon and young white men who did nothing wrong in Woodland or Davis either..
PS the under age kid who lied to the police on one of the false police reports was never called in or charged.. his daddy was a high level mucky muck who lived on the bird streets.. and was some kind of minority and not even one of the protected ones…. some may love puzzles others may think this is off topic. oh well at least it was fun.. and true and illustrates wtf is wrong with this area.. of the US of A
and in one case there was a supposed “eye witness” who didn’t actually see anything until after the accident.. .and so on.. took PIs, attorneys both ARAG and others, and a mother who at some points in life felt that would be a wonderful career to uncover the real evidence and the real story and the real truth… of course some have the skills and the money to do that … even if the money meant a home equity line…..
If I were a betting lady, which I am not, I would bet that if nada..
even white children would be incarcerated for years and have their lives ruined.
and I would bet that happens many days in our areas of Yolo and even worse in towns with the name starting OAK like OAK PARK and OAKLAND .. where the riots occurred in decades past….and still do and where gangs proliferate ….
If the above statement is a true statement than not Smith but person who made false report should be prosecuted under the provision of the Penal Code § 148.5 for falsely reporting to the Police that Smith committed crime regardless of his skin color. This is irrelevant. However, if it was the case that the reporting person who made the false report because he does not like black people than it should be a completely different case with the different Civil and Penal Codes .
If the BART Police Officers were playing Nazi’s aimed at pregnant women than they violated the Penal Code Section 147 which states: “Every officer who is guilty of willful inhumanity or oppression toward any prisoner under his care or in his custody, is punishable by fine not exceeding four thousand dollars and removal from office.”
The article if true shows that BART Police Officers action against Smith and his girlfriend had no any ground, was unreasonable based on facts and circumstances, the detention and arrest was unwarranted and unlawful and in violation with Penal Code § 149. This what I subjectively understood from this article .
BP
“You’re kidding, right?”
Not at all. I asked for a quote of mine, not an article or post of David’s. Your statement regarding me joking does not take the place of an actual quote.