Jurors deliberated approximately three days before finding 24-year-old Marcus “Wolfie” Herrera not guilty Tuesday of the April 27, 2012 murder and robbery of 55-year-old Robert Musial, said Herrera’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Rebecca Young.  Jurors also acquitted Herrera of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, convicting him of the lesser, included charge of misdemeanor assault.

Herrera was also convicted of one count of assault with a deadly weapon. Herrera, who faced life in prison, will face a maximum of four years behind bars when he is sentenced June 7.

The argument shortly before Musial’s death stemmed from a dispute between Musial and his marijuana dealer, Jeremy “Christian” Brinker, who had fronted Musial $5,000 worth of marijuana two months earlier and had not been repaid. Brinker, who believed Musial had been avoiding his calls and texts, spotted him on Hippie Hill at approximately 6 p.m. Brinker planned to confront Musial about the debt and skateboarded to Alvord Lake in search of someone to accompany him. Herrera, an acquaintance, agreed to be a witness to the confrontation and both men skated back to Hippie Hill.

Herrera testified that during the ensuing argument, he nudged Musial with his skateboard several times in the shoulder and legs after Musial appeared to advance toward Brinker.

Brinker subsequently pleaded guilty in February to robbery, voluntary manslaughter and false imprisonment in exchange for nine years in state prison and his testimony in Herrera’s trial. Brinker testified Herrera’s participation in the confrontation was brief. When it ended, Brinker and Musial walked down the hill to Sharon Meadows, continuing to argue while Herrera “faded into the background.” Brinker admitted to picking up Musial’s debit card, which had fallen to the ground, but claimed he never used it. Herrera was not present when Brinker pocketed the card.

Approximately 30 minutes after the confrontation, police were called to the park’s carousel area about 700 feet away from Hippie Hill, where Musial was found on a bench, struggling to breathe. He died moments later and the cause of death was established as a probable lethal cardiac arrhythmia.

At trial, a witness testified that another man confessed to beating Musial by the carousel, following Musial’s confrontation with Brinker and Herrera on Hippie Hill. The man who claimed to have attacked Musial was located, but invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify.  The medical examiner who performed the autopsy testified that it was impossible to know whether or not Musial’s cardiac event was caused by a confrontation.

Young told the jury that the case against Herrera was “outrageously overcharged and under proven.”

Adachi commended the jury for focusing on the evidence.

“This was a very complicated case involving over a dozen witnesses and conflicting statements. Members of the jury carefully weighed all of the testimony and physical evidence and determined that Mr. Herrera was not responsible for Mr. Musial’s death,” Adachi said.

Hosted by Temple Emanu-El.
Co-sponsored by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and Rosen, Bien, Galvan & Grunfeld LLP.

Followed by a book signing by Sister Helen Prejean. Sister Helen’s books will be available for sale.

Video of Sister Helen Prejean speaking at the event:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video invitation from Jeff Adachi:

Click here to view the embedded video.

MP4 Video of Public Defender PSA

Jurors on Wednesday afternoon found Jose Guadarrama, 47, not guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. Guadarrama faced a year in jail if convicted, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Julia Deutsch.

The afternoon of Jan. 19, Guadarrama, a longtime maintenance man with no history of violence, was on his way to replace a broken gas line with a new one. The faulty line was attached to a stove in a vacant unit in the O’Farrell Street apartment building where he lives and works. While looking for parking around Leavenworth and Geary streets, a man standing in the street suddenly slapped and kicked Guadarrama’s truck, claiming Guadarrama’s side view mirror grazed his buttocks. The two men briefly exchanged words. Guadarrama immediately parked around the corner on Geary.

Guadarrama got out of his car and walked toward the man to talk to him about whether he had been hit, and what happened. He had the replacement 3-foot long flexible stainless steel gas line with him. Before Guadarrama could even approach the man to initiate a conversation, one security guard tackled Guadarrama and shoved him to the ground, and another guard ran over and handcuffed him. One of the security guards assumed Guadarrama was about to swing the gas line at the man because he had witnessed the man slapping Guadarrama’s truck minutes earlier.  Police arrived and took Guadarrama to jail, where he spent three days before being released on bail.

“This incident was a complete misinterpretation by the security guards. Mr. Guadarrama was on his way to work and had the gas line in his hand in order to make a repair. He was attempting to communicate with a man who had just accused him of hitting him with his truck as he drove by. He was unable to do so because the security guards simply threw him to the ground without asking any questions,” Deutsch said.

Police never took a statement from Guadarrama and relied solely on the word of the security guards, who at trial gave unclear accounts on whether and how Guadarrama actually swung the gas line. Jurors were convinced of Guadarrama’s innocence after hearing his testimony.

“The trial gave Mr. Guadarrama the opportunity to tell his side of the story,” Deutsch said. “The jurors saw the truth. This was a maintenance man who was simply on his way to work with a tool in his hand, and his actions were misperceived by hyper-vigilant security guards.”

The case illustrates how a misperception can snowball into serious consequences, Adachi said.

“Mr. Guadarrama was never given an opportunity to clear up the misunderstanding until he went to trial. Fortunately, the jurors believed him and he can now move on with his life.”

Jurors on Tuesday afternoon deliberated less than 30 minutes before finding Juan Olmedo, 34, not guilty of assault with force to cause great bodily injury. Olmedo faced a year in jail if convicted of the charge, which had been reduced from a felony following a preliminary hearing in August, 2012, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Alex Lilien.

Olmedo, a Marine since 1998, was home on leave when the Sept. 11, 2011 incident occurred just after midnight at La Terraza bar at Mission and Cortland streets. Olmedo and his sister were celebrating their birthdays at the bar with their mother, two other siblings and Olmedo’s girlfriend, while family friends performed in a band.

When Olmedo’s mother tried to break up a fight between two women, a male patron pushed her to the floor. Olmedo and his brother rushed in to protect their mother and a large melee ensued, involving at least five men. Some revelers tried to break up the fight, while others threw bottles, prompting numerous calls to 911. Among the injured was the 66-year-old woman, who suffered a black eye and facial bruising in the brawl.

The woman told a responding officer that she was dancing when she was punched in the right eye by a man in his early 20s wearing a red 49ers jersey and shorts. She said she had never seen the man before, but could identify him if she saw him again.

Olmedo was wearing a gray and white San Francisco Giants jersey at the time of the incident.

The following day, accompanied by her daughter, the woman went to the police station and changed her story. She reported that she knew the man who punched her and identified him as Olmedo. She was friendly with Olmedo’s mother and sisters, she told police, and had met Olmedo at barbecues, family gatherings and previously at La Terraza.

Olmedo voluntarily came to the police station and cooperated fully with investigators. He said he did not believe he had any contact with the woman, but conceded that the bar was small and the fight was chaotic, and may have accidentally injured her without being aware. He was arrested.

During the two day trial, prosecution witnesses gave wildly conflicting stories. The responding officer, called by Lilien, testified that the complaining witness appeared positive she did not know her assailant.  A regular at the bar, and friend of the complaining witness, testified that she saw the man who hit her friend,  describing him as wearing black pants and a black shirt and having longer than average hair and a goatee. Olmedo had a military haircut and was clean shaven at the time of the incident. Under cross examination, the woman admitted that the complaining witness had pointed out Olmedo at the August hearing and told her to identify him as the attacker.

The complaining witness also changed her story on the stand. On numerous occasions, she had been adamant that her attacker wore a red 49ers jersey, describing it to the responding officer, the police inspector and the preliminary hearing judge. At trial, however, she testified she was unsure what her attacker wore.

Lilien said it appeared that the woman was convinced to change her story after hearing input from other bar regulars and from family members who were not present during the incident.

“It’s unfortunate this woman was injured in the melee, however, this case never should have gone to trial,” Lilien said. “It was prosecution by gossip. Luckily, our defense investigator was able to track down honest witnesses.”

Innocent people suffer when prosecutors pursue cases without sufficient evidence, Adachi said.

“Mr. Olmedo has, by all accounts, lived an exemplary life. It made no sense to believe he brutally beat an elderly acquaintance. In addition, nothing about his appearance matched the description of the man who injured the complaining witness,” Adachi said. “Fortunately, it didn’t take the jury long to see the many problems in the case.”

Jurors deliberated half a day before finding Jaime Sigueiros, 29, not guilty Wednesday of misdemeanor domestic violence and false imprisonment. Sigueiros, a construction worker with no criminal convictions, wept with relief as the verdicts were read, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Herman Holland. Sigueiros faced a year in jail if convicted.

Sigueiros testified during the weeklong trial that he and his girlfriend argued during a holiday party at their Bayview apartment building after Sigueiros refused to allow her to read the text messages he had been receiving all evening. Sigueiros admitted on the stand that his relationship had been plagued by trust issues following his previous indiscretions. As a result, he said, his girlfriend’s frustration sometimes escalated into physical violence.

When the couple returned to their apartment, Sigueiros’ girlfriend continued to grab for his phone and reach into his pockets. When Sigueiros prevented her from taking the phone, she began hitting him on the arms, face and head, he testified. Sigueiros said he then grabbed his girlfriend by the upper body to restrain her, pushed her away, and left the home with the couple’s dog.  Sigueiros’ girlfriend then called police, telling officers Sigueiros choked her, held her on the bed and punched her in the face twice.

A medic who responded to the apartment also took the stand, testifying that the woman’s injuries were inconsistent with being punched in the face. While she did suffer some bruising to her arms and chest, the medic testified, it was impossible to tell whether it occurred as a result of an assault or being pushed back by a person defending himself. The complaining witness did not testify in the case.

Ultimately, jurors were swayed both by Sigueiros’ credibility and the lack of evidence against him.

“Jury members found Mr. Sigueiros incredibly honest on the stand. He admitted to being unfaithful and really embraced how painful that must have been for his girlfriend. He never demonized her and said he understood why her frustrations escalated,” Holland said.

Holland argued that the complaining witness “used 911 as a sword instead of a shield,” in an effort to get Sigueiros arrested.

“Sometimes our preconceived notions about gender roles cloud our perspective when we think about domestic violence,” Holland said. “The jury approached this case with an open mind and saw it was not as black and white as the police report read.”

Adachi also applauded the verdict.

“Mr. Sigueiros was candid throughout the trial because he wanted the truth to come out. After hearing all the testimony and carefully weighing the evidence, jurors determined he committed no crime,” Adachi said.

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Together We Can End the Death Penalty: An Evening with Sister Helen Prejean will be held at 7 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El, 2 Lake Street, San Francisco. The evening includes a book signing and books available for purchase. This event is free, but tickets are required through sfpublicdefender.org. For more information, please call 415-575-8830. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early and take public transportation.

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said he wanted to bring the social justice leader to San Francisco not only for her message, but for her lively, engaging speaking style.

“Sister Helen is a great Southern storyteller and she addresses the things that matter most – life, death and social justice,” said Adachi said.

Prejean, 74, was active in last year’s campaign to pass Proposition 34, which would have ended the death penalty in California. The proposed measure was narrowly defeated.

“In the wake of Prop 34’s defeat, many Californians are thinking about the next step in the battle to abolish the death penalty. Hearing Sister Helen’s perspective is more relevant and needed right now than ever,” Adachi said.

Prejean began her prison ministry in 1981 after dedicating her life to the poor of New Orleans. She became a spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers, sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. Prejean wrote about her relationship with Sonnier and witnessing his execution in her bestselling book Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States.

In 1996, the book was developed into an Oscar-winning film starring Susan Sarandon as Sister Helen and Sean Penn as a death row inmate. The book also inspired an opera by the San Francisco Opera, which premiered in 2000.

For nearly 30 years, Sister Helen Prejean has divided her time between educating citizens about the death penalty and counseling individual death row prisoners. She has accompanied six men to their deaths. Prejean has been instrumental in sparking national dialogue on the death penalty and helping to shape the Catholic Church’s newly vigorous opposition to state executions. She also founded Survive, a victim’s advocacy group in New Orleans that provides counseling to the families of murder victims.

Prejean’s second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, was published in 2004. Through the stories of two executed men, Prejean takes aim at wrongful convictions, explaining how flaws in the system inevitably lead to innocent people being put to death.

Jurors deliberated approximately one hour Monday before acquitting San Francisco resident Pablo Rodriguez, 54, of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of resisting arrest. The misdemeanor charges carried up to a year and a half in jail, said Rodriguez’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Carmen Aguirre.

Rodriguez, a neighborhood activist who has worked to increase job opportunities in the Mission District, was arrested Nov. 19 after spending his evening socializing with friends at a Valencia Street bus stop, drinking beer and watching Monday night football through the window of a nearby restaurant.

Rodriguez and his friend purchased more beer at a convenience store on 24^th and Valencia streets. On the way out, a friend of the clerk blocked their path and a brief argument ensued in Spanish. As Rodriguez exited, the clerk called him a troublemaker. Rodriguez, who disagreed with the characterization, returned briefly to explain himself. The clerk, clearly uninterested in Rodriguez’s side of the story, grabbed a bat from behind the counter and followed Rodriguez outside, brandishing the weapon.

The clerk returned to his store and Rodriguez’s friend attempted to follow him inside. Rodriguez physically restrained his friend from entering. It was then that the clerk approached and threw a cup of water in Rodriguez’s eyes. Rodriguez responded by throwing one of his 40 ounce bottles of Miller High Life toward the clerk, who dodged the bottle and pursued Rodriguez with the bat. Rodriguez threw his second bottle at the clerk, who blocked it with his hand and suffered a small scrape.

The clerk then began swinging the bat at Rodriguez, who held his backpack as a shield to protect his head. Rodriguez suffered an injured finger after being hit on the hand.

Rodriguez left, but returned to the area nearly two hours later to look for his friend. Instead, he found the clerk, the clerk’s friend and the store owner standing outside the store. They spotted Rodriguez and a loud argument ensued on the sidewalk.

A nearby police officer pulled up and ordered Rodriguez to put his hands behind his head for a search. When the officer grabbed Rodriguez’s injured finger, Rodriguez recoiled and fell onto his side, causing the officer to fall on top of him, Aguirre said.

The store employee told police that Rodriguez refused to leave and then threw beers at him in an unprovoked attack. He did not mention assaulting Rodriguez with water and a bat.  During the one day trial, jurors watched surveillance video evidence that contradicted the clerk’s story. The clerk then changed his story on the stand, Aguirre said, telling jurors that Rodriguez came in hurling racial slurs. The clerk testified that he called Rodriguez back into the store to discuss his hurt feelings.

“The clerk’s story that Mr. Rodriguez was a menace who wouldn’t leave the store crumbled on the stand. He now had to account for the video evidence, so he invented a new story,” Aguirre said. “Mr. Rodriguez tried to explain himself to the clerk and the police, but nobody would listen. It is frightening to think of what would have happened to Mr. Rodriguez without video evidence and jurors who were willing to hear him.”

The case shows how easily a misunderstanding can result in a criminal charge, Adachi said.

“From the convenience store to the courtroom, Mr. Rodriguez’s only goal was to explain his intentions. He was not trying to cause trouble. Fortunately, the jurors returned the right verdict,” Adachi said.

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Jurors deliberated approximately one hour Friday afternoon before acquitting Mario Vega, 26, of both misdemeanor charges, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Anita Nabha.

Vega was arrested New Year’s Day after an argument with his then-girlfriend while parked at Big Lots on Mission Street with their 2-year-old son. As the couple’s argument became heated, Vega told his girlfriend was going to take their toddler to a nearby park while she cooled off, Nabha said.

Vega walked with his son to the park, located a block away. His girlfriend quickly drove to them, double parking and getting out of the car. As she exited the car shouting, Vega began videotaping her actions. His girlfriend grabbed the phone out of his hands and then walked back to her car.  A short time later, she returned to the park and grabbed their son off a slide, Nabha said. Vega, who did not want his son to travel with an angry driver, followed his girlfriend back to her car, pleading for her to stop. He then witnessed her place their child in the car seat, but fail to latch him into the safety harness before attempting to drive away.

“When he saw his son was unsecured in the car, he completely panicked. He would have lay down in the street and died for his son,” Nabha said.

Vega kicked the passenger door, begging for his girlfriend to stop driving. When she continued to pull away, he ran to the driver’s side and kicked the door twice, causing the driver’s side window to shatter. His girlfriend drove away, dropping Vega’s phone out of the window. She stopped after traveling 50 feet and called 911. Vega, who had no previous criminal history, was arrested 20 minutes later.

Vega testified during the two day trial that the most important thing in his life was to be a father to his son the way his father had been to him. Vega said he was simply trying to make sure his son was safe in a volatile situation.

Vega’s friend also took the stand as a character witness, describing the apprentice carpenter and San Francisco native as a loving, reliable, compassionate person.

Adachi said jurors reached a just verdict.

“Mr. Vega didn’t have the intent to vandalize the car and would never want his son to be in any danger,” Adachi said. “Mr. Vega was acting as a caring, protective father and the jury quickly determined he did not commit a crime.”

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Gideon at 50:  The Road to Equal Justice

Cost: This event is free but registration is required. Register at sfjusticesummit.com

Keynote Speaker: Karen Houppert, author of Chasing Gideon, the Elusive Quest for Poor People’s Justice.

Panel I: The Elusive Quest for Poor People’s Justice

Panel II: Forced Treatment and Constitutional Rights: Can They Coexist?

Panel III: The Price of Liberty: Reforming the Bail System

Panelists and moderators

• Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender
• Karen Houppert, Author, Chasing Gideon: The Elusive Quest for Poor People’s Justice
• Dawn Porter, Director/Producer, Gideon’s Army
• Jonathan Rapping, Founder, Gideon’s Promise (formerly  Southern Public Defender Training Center)
• Maurice Caldwell, Wrongfully Convicted of Murder
• Linda Starr, Co-Founder, Northern California Innocence Project
•  Wendy Still, Chief, San Francisco Adult Probation
• John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle
• Kara Chien, Attorney Manager, Mental Health Unit, San Francisco Public Defender’s Office
• Candy Dewitt, Parent, Laura’s Law Advocate
• Dr. David Kan, Substance Abuse Treatment Expert, Veterans Affairs Medical Center
• Deni McLagan, Associate Director, Serial Inebriate Program, City of San Diego
• Greg Suhr, San Francisco Chief of Police
• Dr. Gary Tsai, Psychiatrist, Laura’s Law Advocate
• Matt Gonzalez, Chief Attorney, San Francisco Public Defender’s Office
• Catherine McCracken, Director of Development and the Sentencing Service Program, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
• Ross Mirkarimi, San Francisco Sheriff
• George Gascón, San Francisco District Attorney
• Will Leong, CEO, San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project
• Jonathan Simon, Professor of Law, UC Berkeley

Co-sponsored by Keker & Van Nest, Farella, Braun & Martel, Morrison & Foerster LLP, O’Brien & Associates, and Bar Association of San Francisco. 4.25  MCLE units earned.

Throughout our country’s history, poor people have enjoyed few victories — especially those who stand accused of crimes.
This week marks the 50th anniversary of a rare and important triumph: Gideon v. Wainwright, the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed that anyone accused of a serious crime was entitled to a lawyer, whether or not he or she could afford one.

On Tuesday, city leaders, experts and people affected by a broken system will gather at the 10th annual Public Defender’s Justice Summit to commemorate the anniversary with a day of frank discussions about how to get closer to our goal of equal justice.

The man at the heart of the case, Clarence Earl Gideon, was a semiliterate drifter arrested on suspicion of burglarizing a Florida pool hall. Because he could not afford a lawyer, Gideon was forced to represent himself at trial. He was convicted.

From his jail cell, Gideon scrawled out a petition to the nation’s high court arguing that his rights had been violated.

Incredibly, the justices voted to hear his appeal and ruled unanimously in his favor. He was retried, this time represented by a public defender, and promptly acquitted. In the years that followed, the Gideon decision ignited a right-to-counsel revolution, but failed in its promise to close the yawning gap between justice for the rich and justice for the poor.

Today, 80 percent of criminal defendants are served by public defenders. In San Francisco, 25,000 people rely on the Public Defender’s Office each year. A 2011 Justice Policy Institute study paints a grim national picture of overburdened public defenders and frequent miscarriages of justice. According to the study, 73 percent of county-based public defender’s offices lack the requisite number of attorneys to meet caseloads. Nearly one-quarter of the offices had less than half the necessary attorneys.

Tuesday’s summit, “Gideon at 50: The Road to Equal Justice,” is dedicated to exploring the continuing David vs. Goliath battle, both in San Francisco and the nation. Karen Houppert, our keynote speaker, is a journalist who set out to check the national pulse regarding the right to counsel. Her book, “Chasing Gideon: The Elusive Quest for Poor People’s Justice,” chronicles our failure to fulfill our promise to the poor. Across the country, she found that impossible caseloads and a lack of funding have resulted in wrongful convictions of the innocent.

Nobody knows more about wrongful conviction than Maurice Caldwell, a San Francisco man who spent more than 20 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Based on the identification of a single eyewitness, a jury convicted Caldwell of killing a man in a botched drug deal in the Alemany housing project. The Northern California Innocence Project later unearthed new evidence in the case, including a statement from another man that he was the real killer.

Caldwell was released in 2011 after a judge ruled his attorney failed to adequately investigate the case. Caldwell will join a panel discussion on poor people’s justice.

Also at the summit will be filmmaker Dawn Porter, whose Sundance award-winning documentary, “Gideon’s Army,” exposes not only the heavy caseloads but also the unsinkable idealism of public defenders in the Deep South.

We hold the summit each year because we believe all of us benefit from equal justice. Together we will explore solutions to the problems that vex our city — from chronic inebriates to mental illness to reforming the bail system. I hope you will join us in our effort to fulfill Gideon’s promise.

The Public Defender’s Justice Summit will be held Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Koret Auditorium in the San Francisco Main Library. This event is free, but registration is required. For more information and to register, visit www.sfpublicdefender.org.

Jeff Adachi is the public defender of San Francisco.