Thread by @GackleReport

Can't believe I have to do this again. But here we go: @sfchronicle finally- FINALLY- delivered a Marsy's Law story after I spent months pleading, lobbying the likes of Susan Slusser, Ann Killion, Megan Cassidy, Julie Johnson, @cdizikes, etc.

A thread:
sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/hea…

Those of you who've been following along know the story. Sorry to repeat. It isn't getting through to @sfchronicle, @hknightsf, @garciaruize, so here we go again.

In 2017, I was stabbed 14x in my home by someone @SantaClaraDA Rosen had released on a plea deal just 9 days earlier

Here's the problem: I was kept in the dark for 13+ months by @SantaClaraDA Jeff Rosen re: the ID of my attacker, that my attacker went on to murder Daniel Torrez shorty after & several of my attacker's court dates.

In failing to inform me, Rosen's office violated "Marsy's Law"3.

What is Marsy's Law? It's California's Victims Bill of Rights. Crime victims often get lost in the shuffle: DAs use us as campaign billboards to promote "tough on crime" policies. Public defenders are there to defend the accused. Who is looking out for the victim? 4.

For more on Marsy's Law & some of the other provisions in it, here's a link: cdcr.ca.gov/victim-service…. 5.

So back to @SantaClaraDA Jeff Rosen. On the eve of @sjsharks training camp in 2018, I called the attorney working on the case & asked to know: a. the identity of my attacker & my attacker's next court date so I could book it off from work to attend. 6.

Attorney Jason Malinksy refused to give up that info. Later that day he called me back. My attacker's name was Sydney Whalen. The next morning, I get a call from Mercury News editor Bert Robinson, saying, "we've gotta get a story up on this right away."
On what? The murder. 7.

So I learned about Sydney Whalen's murder of Daniel Torrez through my boss at Mercury News, who learned about it from @SantaClaraDA PIO Sean Webby the am after my request, even though Marsy's Law required Rosen's office to fill me in as soon as charges were filed. 8.

So why would @SantaClaraDA Jeff Rosen violate my victims' rights by hiding Whalen's identity, hiding the murder, keeping me in the dark about Whalen's court date & then tipping off my boss about said info?

He wanted to shape the narrative in a way that was favorable to him. 9.

So, I was asked this EVERY DAY by reporters while working #SJSharks beat in 2017-18. EVERY DAY reporters asked me, do you know who stabbed you yet? What's going on with that? When is the trial. EVERY DAY.

I couldn't answer bc @SantaClaraDA Rosen violated my victims rights. 10.

Here's what I think: @SantaClaraDA Rosen violated my victims rights bc there was lots interest in my story in 2017-18 (one of the most clicked on local stories), if the public knew a reporter nearly got stabbed to death bc he'd released a drug snitch on a plea, Rosen is toast. 11

Instead, @SantaClaraDA Rosen got his PIO Sean Webby, a former Mercury News reporter, to tip off news director Bert Robinson that Whalen's identity was out of the bag & Merc published this piece the next day against my wishes. 12.

eastbaytimes.com/2018/09/13/hay…

This piece omits the fact that @SantaClaraDA Rosen had released Whalen on a plea just 9 days before I was stabbed. The story omits that Whalen had been charged by Rosen 17 different times in 4-yr span.

This was a violent offender that Rosen had released & she killed someone. 13

As I mentioned, Mercury News published this article that unmasked me as the victim of the Whalen stabbing the night before #SJSharks training camp was set to kick off.

This shows you how little the Merc cares for its own employees, how little they care about crime victims. 13

So the article was published 9.13.18 & it knocked me out of work for 3 weeks. I had nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks, I felt exposed, ashamed. It was awful.

Just before opening night was told if I can't make it back, the beat is going back to Curtis Pashelka. 14.

Guys. This is where I made my big mistake. At this point, i should have hired a lawyer & not returned to the beat. Once I came back, from that minute forward Robinson, Bud Geracie & Co. were looking for ways to fire me bc they knew the company was liable. 15.

What role did all this Marsy's Law stuff play in my eventual firing. Check out this email to HR director Karen Austin. On 10.1.19, I told editor Frank Pine. I wasn't healthy enough to return to beat in wake of learning that @SantaClaraDA Rosen was working on a plea for Whalen. 16

Here is Mercury News HR Director Karen Austin's response. 17.

And here is my response to Karen Austin's inquiry, spelling mistakes & all. As you can see, I'm concerned about the Marsy's Law stuff & how Bert Robinson is clearly covering up for his buddies over @SantaClaraDA Jeff Rosen's office. 18.

I never received a response from Mercury News HR Director Karen Austin & the next day I was fired. 19.

Shortly after my firing, I learned about Marsy's Law & that my rights as a crime victim had been badly violated by @SantaClaraDA Rosen.

With the help of attorney, I filed the paperwork to exercise #8 on victims bill of rights, to speak in court on Jan. 3, 2020. Attached. 20

But guess what happened when I showed up to speak in court on Jan. 3, 2020? Public defender Christina Moore, DA Mark Melton met w/ Judge Morris Jacobson in chambers for 40 minutes & then he came out & denied my right to address the court about numerous Marsy's Law violations. 21.

What does this have to do w/ @sfchronicle ?
At this time, #SFGiants beat writer Susan Slusser put me in touch with @SarRavani. I passed on everything I had & then Ravani went completely dark on me, one of the most chilling experiences for a victim preparing to come forward. 22.

Susan Slusser, though she denies this now, told me @sfchronicle editors decided to pull out of the story as a "professional curtesy" to editors at the Mercury News.
You see how this works? They power over one of their own. 23.

Ok, so fast forward to Jan. 2022, @sfchronicle, after all this pleading, finally decides to do a victims rights story. But it doesn't do the @SantaClaraDA Jeff Rosen story. No, no no. They decide to go after progressive DA @chesaboudin, who they'd beaten up for months. 24.

Oh shit! Guess what? The story was a plant by rich right wing forces trying to get @chesaboudin recalled.
The piece claimed that an Asian elder was beaten with a baseball bat & Boudin's victims services office failed to keep him abreast of the case. Sounds really bad. 25.

Here's the real story: Asian elder was a right wing blogger deeply involved in the recall effort. The baseball bat was a plastic whiffle ball bat swung by an 11-yr-old who was with his wheelchaired father.

Oh & @chesaboudin's office called the "victim" more than 12 times. 26.

Don't let facts get in the way of a good story right @sfchronicle?
Here's another thing I learned: every DA violates Marsy's Law. That's why it's so important for the media to use its bully pulpit to help crime victims.
But @sfchronicle went cherry picking v. @chesaboudin. 27

How dangerous is this misinformation?
6 weeks after @sfchronicle published this bogus "baseball bat beating" story I got a text message from a friend who'd come across a version of that story online and linked it to my victims rights issues w/ @SantaClaraDA Rosen. 28.

So @sfchronicle sorta retracted the baseball bat beating story & corrected it. But that didn't stop @hknightsf from taking another crack at tying the Marsy's Law abuse phenomena, which is statewide, to @chesaboudin. Imagine right wing editor Damien Bulwa was involved too. 29.

Here's the piece @hknightsf, @sfchronicle, @garciaruize published this am calling @chesaboudin's commitment to victims into question. I find this piece to be wildly distorted & I'll explain more below. 30
sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/hea…

My problem is that you can find Marsy's Law abuses with any DA in CA, but @hknightsf goes after her fav target. This reminds me of crime spike/ quality of life pieces produced by @sfchronicle targeting @chesaboudin when Sacramento is experiencing crime surge under hard line DA.31

So @hknightsf compares @chesaboudin victims' office to that of Gascon, but no other DA in CA?
How lazy is this reporting? What's going on w/ victims rights in Santa Clara? Alameda County? Is this unique to SF or common?

We don't know from reading @hknightsf's piece. 32

The other gross distortion here is sample size. It's like all the crime stat stuff being pushed by the right. Two years just isn't enough time to make any sweeping generalizations about @chesaboudin's performance.
@garciaruize knows this. It's in @sfchronicle's endorsement. 33.

So if @garciaruize knows it's silly to make sweeping conclusions about @chesaboudin's performance after just 2 yrs, why is he allowing publication of this @hknightsf column? There is no shortage of CA DAs who've violated Marsy's Law. Some of those DAs for more than a decade. 34.

So @hknightsf only cares about victims when it suits her agenda. Don't forget, she also centered Brooke Jenkins in several pieces attacking @chesaboudin. Jenkins is the prosecutor that tried to send a legally-insane person to prison vs. the wishes of the victim's family.35.

Here's a full recap in @DavisVanguard of the Brooke Jenkins/ @hknightsf saga. Important thing to know here is that Knight omitted a lot of important details that she knew about:

davisvanguard.org/2021/10/guest-…

I can't express how disappointed I am that @garciaruize published @hknightsf's column today.
1. It's personal. To have my Marsy's Law rights violated, the story ignored by @sfchronicle & then to see them triangulate victims rights to attack a progressive DA, it's Russia stuff.

All of this is just VERY Russia.
Mercury News cutting deals w/ public officials to break news first in exchange for protection. @sfchronicle cherry picking victims rights stories to attack progressive DAs.

Whatever happened to the 4th estate @garciaruize, @hknightsf?

Thanks for coming to yet another Ted Talk on Marsy's Law. I wish I didn't have to scream about Victims rights & media misinformation every day, but that's the state of the state in '22.
In a tradition set by @soledadobrien, @equalityAlec, here's Tenaya to offset this toxicity.