Charges dropped against black crime victim in San Francisco; wrongfully accused and imprisoned after dispute with MUNI

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – “My client is not only innocent, he is the victim,” Assistant Public Defender Ilona Yañez said this week on behalf of her client Jerry Williams, a 53-year-old black man from San Francisco.

A press release from the San Francisco Public Defender's Office said Williams was falsely charged with assault and several other crimes following an altercation on a MUNI bus on April 16.

“Mr. Williams would never have been in prison if he had not been a black man on parole,” said San Francisco elected public defender Mano Raju, adding, “…the police did not believe him and used his parole status against him instead of actually investigating the incident to find out the truth. The result was another innocent black man in prison whose life and livelihood were destroyed because the police mistakenly believed him to be the attacker when he was actually the victim.”

On April 16, MUNI surveillance footage shows Williams accidentally dropping cash on the ground as he boarded a bus; the alleged victim picked it up behind him.

A released statement from the San Francisco Public Defenders said: “Williams demanded the man's money back, and the man denied taking the money, although other passengers can be heard in the footage demanding that he return it. The man pushed his umbrella toward Williams, who stopped it with his hand while he continued to demand his money back. The man then reached out, grabbed and scratched Williams' face, and Williams responded with a single punch in self-defense.”

The press release even acknowledges that Williams waited for police and gave a lengthy statement in which he “begged” officers to watch the MUNI footage, which would fully support his account.

Because officers did not search the alleged victim for the missing cash, they ran a background check on Williams, found he was on probation, and arrested him instead of the alleged victim, who appears to be white, the statement said. The statement said Williams was subsequently charged with aggravated elder abuse and aggravated assault, and prosecutors insisted he remain in custody.

DPD Yañez told the press that Williams “spent two weeks in jail, missed classes… (and) was at risk of losing his apartment. (This) is emblematic of the damage caused by police bias and prosecutors' insistence on unnecessary pretrial detention.”

While incarcerated, Williams faced the additional rigors of COVID-related lockdowns and overcrowding, the statement released said.

Although prosecutors dropped all charges against DPD Yañez and Williams on May 24, the case is not over. They believe that racial issues also influenced the officers' decisions and that there was bias against Williams because he was on parole, despite being a “model parolee.”

Williams has since been successfully released from probation and is working with DPD Yañez on this case, the release notice states.

Screenshots of MUNI surveillance footage can be found below. (Note: These images can also be found Here.)

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Breaking News Everyday Injustice Northern California San Francisco State of California

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Charges dropped against black crime victims in San Francisco. Wrongfully accused and incarcerated after dispute with MUNI. COVID issues. Aggravated custody. Elder abuse and aggravated assault. Incarcerated. MUNI surveillance footage. San Francisco public defender. Mano Raju. San Francisco public defender's office.