California crime crisis: Dozens of criminal defendants handed ‘get out of jail free card’ on technicality

San Francisco Superior Court has dismissed 70 misdemeanor cases, including DUI, sexual assault and violations of restraining orders, that were not heard in court by constitutional deadlines.

The mass dismissals came a month after a panel of California appeals court judges ruled that a San Francisco court improperly delayed the women’s trials for years and justified its decisions with outdated, pandemic-era procedures.

“They’ve given 70 criminals an exoneration,” Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney who has practiced law in California for more than 30 years, told Fox News Digital. “These aren’t red light runners, these are drunk drivers, domestic abusers. Where is the redress for the victims?”

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ office said prosecutors had identified 74 other defendants whose trials had been delayed under similar circumstances. A judge dismissed all but four of the charges against them en masse last Thursday following an appeals court ruling.

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San Francisco Superior Court dismissed 70 misdemeanor cases on Thursday.

Jenkins acknowledged that the court was obligated to dismiss the case and that her office was ethically “obliged” to hear the case, but stressed that the court’s delays harmed not only defendants who were deprived of their constitutional right to a speedy trial, but also “countless victims of crime who will never get to see justice delivered.”

Among the dropped cases was a vehicle crash that killed two pedestrians near the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2022. Wayne Henderson, whose wife, Mary Henderson, 72, and daughter, Willa Henderson, 31, died in that crash, expressed his anger last Thursday before San Francisco Superior Court Presiding Judge Ann Christine Massullo.

“As victims of these crimes, we are being robbed of a moment of accountability – the bare minimum we deserve – to see and hear the defendants answer for their wrongdoings,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Is this justice?”

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San Francisco Superior Court Presiding Judge Ann Christine Masciullo told the San Francisco Chronicle that she had “no discretion” in the dismissed cases and that her office simply “had to comply.” [the appellate court’s] order.” (Andy Alfaro/The Modesto Bee/Tribune News Service)

Prosecutors and defense lawyers have blamed the judge for the delay, while the Superior Court has said the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office is to blame.

Masullo told the Chronicle that there was “no discretion” in the cases his court was forced to dismiss, and that the court expected “the DA’s office to properly prioritize cases and ensure justice is served.”

A spokesman for the district attorney’s office responded, “Any suggestion from the court that officials should irresponsibly settle cases to assist the court in its case management is frivolous, misplaced and inappropriate.”

Police vehicles are deployed to Union Square following a robbery in San Francisco on December 2, 2021. (AP/Eric Risberg)

Terrell, a civil rights attorney with more than 30 years of experience in California, told Fox News Digital that he had never seen “a blanket firing like this based on negligence.”

“I’ve seen individual cases dismissed, but 70 being dismissed here? This is highly unusual, given that we’ve never heard a valid reason,” Terrell said Thursday. “There are a lot of options the San Francisco Superior Court could have taken. You only need to look at other cities and counties in California.”

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The scene of a deadly incident at a bus stop at the intersection of 16th Avenue and Potrero Street in San Francisco on May 23, when a suspected stolen truck struck pedestrians during a police pursuit, injuring four people and killing one. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency)

In similar situations, the courts often suspend civil court operations until the criminal cases are dealt with and use civil judges to handle the high volume of cases, Terrell said.

Courts can also extend their hours to handle more cases, he said.

Terrell also noted that these misdemeanor cases are “less difficult” to prosecute than felonies, which require more witnesses and expert testimony.

“It’s not like we have 15 or 20 witnesses,” he explained, “I’ve never had a case where there were more than three or four witnesses on both sides in a misdemeanor case. In a DUI case, it’s usually the defendant, the police officer’s report, a medical expert’s testimony on blood alcohol levels.”

Pedestrians cross a street in the Outer Sunset neighborhood near Ocean Beach on June 26, 2023 in San Francisco. (Photo by Lauren Elliott via Getty Images)

Terrell also said plea deals are often made to reduce case counts rather than dismissing cases outright.

Constitutional law expert John Turley noted that district attorneys’ offices generally “do not simply rely on waivers as a case management tool.”

“If it was negligent, it’s a very serious matter that so many cases were dismissed with a mistrial,” Turley said. “If it was intentional, they need to explain why they didn’t simply move to dismiss.”

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California criminal defense lawyer David Wall told Fox News Digital that caseload overcrowding is a “statewide problem.” In Riverside County, Wall said, many felony cases are being dismissed due to a lack of courtrooms.

“That this is happening now, two years into the COVID crisis in California, is just another sign of the dysfunction in our city’s politics,” he said. “It speaks to the sad reality of what is a great city in many ways, but now so dysfunctional in so many ways that it’s in desperate need of federal intervention.”