Name: Breed on NYE fatal hit-and-run: ‘The criminal justice system in our city has failed’
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Breed on NYE fatal hit-and-run: ‘The criminal justice system in our city has failed’

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateMayor London Breed on Thursday denounced San Francisco’s criminal justice system, saying it failed to prevent the New Year’s Eve hit-and-run crash that killed two women.Addressing the case of Troy Ramon McAlister, who was on parole when he allegedly struck and killed pedestrians Hanako Abe and Elizabeth Platt at Second and Mission streets in a stolen car, Breed said — without naming anyone — that the criminal justice system could have prevented the death by holding McAlister accountable for crimes.“Had this person been held accountable for the numerous crimes that they committed, then this possibly would not have happened,” Breed told the Chinese-language newspaper World Journal in a Thursday night.The mayor’s comments came as District Attorney Chesa Boudin has been criticized for not filing charges against McAlister after in the months prior to the crash, including for car theft and auto burglary. Boudin said he referred the incidents to state parole.Following the traffic deaths, Boudin’s office charged with two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, possession of a gun, driving under the influence and causing great bodily injury, leaving the scene of a collision and driving a stolen vehicle. He could spend decades in prison if convicted on all charges.The 45-year old city resident despite several arrests in San Francisco in recent months, according to city officials and public records. He was released on April 10 from a state prison sentence for robbery and was not charged with new crimes after a spate of arrests, the most recent of which occurred just 10 days before the alleged New Year’s Eve hit-and-run.“The criminal justice system in our city has failed,” the mayor said in the interview. “Right now what you see is a lot of finger-pointing. The finger-pointing should be directed at taking responsibility for the fact that there is a criminal justice system in San Francisco that has failed to acknowledge that a repetitive offender of crime in our city has been able to be released without being held accountable.”At a time of increased scrutiny of mass incarceration and renewed calls for criminal justice reform, Breed tempered her criticism — slightly.“As strong of an advocate as I am of reforms and giving people a second chance and helping people get on their feet, there still has to be accountability,” she said.Boudin spent much of the week playing defense, spreading blame for the hit-and-run crash among several agencies — his office, parole, San Francisco police and Daly City police, since McAlister allegedly stole the car in Daly City.Deputy Public Defender Scott Grant, who is serving as McAlister’s attorney, said McAlister has struggled with drug addiction and Grant believes the New Year’s Eve tragedy could have been avoided if the criminal justice system “addressed the root” of the addiction.On Thursday afternoon the district attorney fended off attacks during a virtual neighborhood safety meeting hosted by District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. Prompted by a string of robberies and a shooting last month in Noe Valley, the meeting also featured reports from police captains at the Mission and Ingleside stations.“I think people’s concern about Troy McAlister is that it is reflective of a revolving door that is broader, and that there are people who are committing crimes over and over and over and over again,” Mandelman said.To many residents, it seems that people are getting arrested and spending little or no time in jail, particularly for nonviolent crimes, the supervisor continued.“Is that a change — is that making us less safe?” he asked Boudin.Boudin said his hands are tied because he is “constitutionally prohibited to punish people until they’ve been convicted of a crime,” or shown to be a threat to public safety. During the COVID-19 lockdown, it has been more difficult to convict people, he said, because San Francisco courts recently stopped holding in-person criminal jury trials.However, according to court spokesman Ken Garcia, they will resume next week.Boudin previously pointed to COVID-19 when he against two Alameda County sheriff’s deputies in March. He said he plans to refile.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.“We’re in a real bind on our end of the criminal justice system,” Boudin said. “It’s a tremendous problem, and there’s no end in sight. I wish I could snap my fingers and solve it.”He argued that because McAlister was on parole, it was more efficient to have the parole agent handle his case than to charge him with new crimes. But when McAlister was arrested on Dec. 20, less than two weeks before the New Year’s Eve crash, nobody told his parole agent, Boudin said.One of the meeting attendees was Castro resident Jennifer Orloff, whose home was burglarized Thursday morning. Thieves broke into her garage at around 5 a.m. — her downstairs neighbor heard the commotion and went outside to see a man riding away on her husband’s e-bike. Later, she had to explain to her 5-year-old son why the police were at their house.Orloff found the meeting frustrating, mostly because she wanted a clear, sensible plan of action to combat crime in the neighborhood, not excuses from public officials.“I feel like he was a really good speaker,” she said of Boudin, “but I also feel like it was disingenuous. If what he was saying were true, we’d be hearing from friends in other big cities that they can’t put their cases through court.”Garcia, a spokesman for San Francisco Superior Court, said the courts are open for hearings, bench trials and other business.“If the district attorney wants to prosecute a case, he can,” Garcia said.Nora Mishanec and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: , Twitter: ,Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateMayor London Breed on Thursday denounced San Francisco’s criminal justice system, saying it failed to prevent the New Year’s Eve hit-and-run crash that killed two women.Addressing the case of Troy Ramon McAlister, who was on parole when he allegedly struck and killed pedestrians Hanako Abe and Elizabeth Platt at Second and Mission streets in a stolen car, Breed said — without naming anyone — that the criminal justice system could have prevented the death by holding McAlister accountable for crimes.“Had this person been held...

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Rachel Swan covers transportation for The Chronicle. She joined the paper in 2015 and has also reported on politics in Oakland and San Francisco.  Previously, Rachel held staff positions at the SF Weekly and the East Bay Express, where she covered technology, law and the arts. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/author/rachel-swan/

Rachel Swan

Nora Mishanec

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Breed on NYE fatal hit-and-run: ‘The criminal justice system in our city has failed’

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