THREAD: In San Francisco now. Family here asking me about recall of Chesa Boudin. Point to a recent sensational article centered on a homicide prosecutor who quit. They've been skeptical. But to them, this article was a gamechanger. Problem: The article was based on lies. More: 
The central story in the article about prosecutor Brooke Jenkins' exit from the office & now role in recalling Chesa Boudin is the Daniel Gudino case. Tragically killed his mother. Every expert-court appointed & otherwise-agreed he was legally insane. Jenkins wouldn't accept it.
Despite the insanity finding from all experts, prosecutor Brooke Jenkins' "spent $40,000 of taxpayer money to hire an expert never approved for court & whose report was at best laughable, just to find someone who would disagree w/ the weight of evidence.”davisvanguard.org/2021/10/guest-…
In the lead up to trials, when every expert--court appointed & defense marshaled--agree that a person accused was legally insane at the time of an action, it isn't unusual for a DA's office to concede the issue. But Chesa Boudin still allowed Brooke Jenkins to try her case.
Despite overwhelming evidence that Daniel Gudino was insane when tragically killing his mother, Chesa Boudin allowed Brooke Jenkins to try the case against him. *Even Gudino's family didn't support criminal remedies in this case.* Jenkins acted against the wishes of the family.
After Brooke Jenkins secured the guilty verdict against Daniel Gudino, she should have then conceded the issue of insanity. In line w/ medical evidence. In line w/ the wishes of the family. Any prosecutor in the country would've. Brooke Jenkins wanted prison not treatment.
Public defender: "Given the overwhelming evidence, this should have been an easy case for Brooke Jenkins. After the guilt stage, she should have agreed to a finding of insanity. Allowing Mr. Gudino to go to a mental hospital, but for reasons still unclear to me, she refused.”
According to defense experts & the public defenders office, Brooke Jenkins went way outside the prosecutorial norm, wasting taxpayer money to find an expert that would say what she wanted, & brought the issue of Gudino's insanity to the jury. They couldn't agree.
Note: As a public defender, I believe Chesa Boudin's office should have conceded insanity before a trial even began. Instead he allowed his prosecutor Brooke Jenkins to try the case. Then allow her to take the issue of insanity to the jury. Only then did he choose to concede.
Chesa Boudin's decision to follow medical experts & the wishes of the family to concede insanity, is same decision that "would have been made by previous DA’s Terence Hallinan, Kamala Harris or Geroge Gascon." But the SF Chronicle misleads public. More: davisvanguard.org/2021/10/chief-…
Please read back through above thread. You'll see an easy decision made by Chesa Boudin. The only thing controversial in my opinion is that he chose to allow prosecutor, Brooke Jenkins, to be far too carceral & cruel for too long at the expense of justice before stepping in.
If you read Heather Knight's article in SF Chronicle, you'd walk away thinking Chesa Boudin unilaterally & controversially took power away from his prosecutor" & did the injustice of finding a "guilty murderer" insane when he shouldve been imprisoned. Knight left out all details.
How disinformation works: Reporter Heather Knight interviewed Matt Gonzalez, the Chief Attorney at the Public Defender’s Office, & public defender, Ilona Solomon, but "excluded & disregarded key details because these did not fit Knight’s narrative." davisvanguard.org/2021/10/chief-…
Heather Knight paints prosecutor, Brooke Jenkins, as "progressive," The facts of the Daniel Gudino case painted by those who knew about it shows a hyper-carceral, overzealous prosecutor, who ignored the wishes of victims' family & medical experts to cage a legally insane person.
Heather Knight paints Chesa Boudin as making an outrageous, controversial decision in conceding the issue of insanity in Daniel Gudino's case. In reality Chesa Boudin made a decision consistent w/ any other prosecutor to follow medical experts & the wishes of the victim's family.
Heather Knight's article talks about other instances where Chesa Boudin allegedly went against the wishes of victims' families. But conveniently leaves out detail about how Brooke Jenkins brazenly *went against the family's wishes in her case* to try to cage a legally insane man.
Heather Knight paints prosecutor Brooke Jenkins as heroic. Public defenders are considering filing a state bar complaint against her for prosecutorial misconduct in the case. "Her stance is the antithesis...what an ethical prosecutor must do."davisvanguard.org/2021/10/guest-…
One of the central premises of the recall effort of Chesa Boudin is that he is "radical." Doing things far outside the norm. And that those things are causing a "rise in crime." The Daniel Gudino example actually points the opposite way. The premise is overwhelmingly false.
Public Defender, Ilona Solomon: "Reporting on criminal justice issues frames how the public views safety and equity. Much of the reporting in San Francisco as of late has failed this city." davisvanguard.org/2021/10/guest-…
"Reporters [say] crime is up when it is largely down, [give] voice to corporations who claim they must leave city bc of theft when they long planned to do so, & are now painting a picture of a D.A.s office w/ little regard for safety/victims. This is dangerous. It must stop."
I wrote here about journalistic practices & norms allowing carceral interests to perpetuate failed strategies. Many journalists fall into a trap of familiar practices. In this case appears that reporter Heather Knight purposefully misled her readers:thenation.com/article/societ…
Instead of responding to questions and critiques about her misleading reporting, Heather Knight just blocked me.
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