California court to review anti-discrimination law when officers hear racist texts

[ad_1]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A judge was scheduled to consider Friday whether Northern California police officers who exchanged racist text messages violated a state law aimed at eradicating racism in the criminal justice system.

A group of Antioch Police Department officers were asked to testify in a San Francisco Bay Area courtroom over heavily redacted text messages made public in April by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office that also used derogatory, homophobic and sexually explicit language, with officers bragging about tampering with evidence and beating suspects.

Defense attorneys were to argue before Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge David Goldstein that their clients, two of whom were mentioned in the posted messages, were being unfairly targeted because of their race. The state’s Racial Justice Act prohibits the state from prosecuting or obtaining criminal convictions or penalties based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.

Goldstein dismissed gang charges against the four defendants in May after historical data showed county prosecutors were disproportionately targeting black people with enhancements leading to longer sentences.

Five of the subpoenaed officers who exchanged texts are not expected to be present on Friday because they are injured and on leave, the East Bay Times reported Thursday. The outlet obtained statements signed by Antioch Police Chief Steven Ford swearing that the officers were not allowed by their doctors to attend the hearing.

Ford, who is black, also received a subpoena and announced two days ago that he would retire next month. He leaves after just one year as acting and permanent police chief. Ford did not give a reason for his retirement and did not respond to emails requesting an interview.

It’s just disappointing, said Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe. I know he believed in changing hearts and minds, but there are people who talk about that kind of nonsense.

Defense attorneys who subpoenaed the officers are representing four men charged with murder and attempted murder in a March 2021 drive-by shooting that prosecutors say was gang-related.

Two of the defendants, Trent Allen and Terryon Pugh, were the subject of some of the posts. Officers joked about kicking them in the head and shooting them in the neck and buttocks. They also shared photos of injured Allen and Pugh in their hospital beds.

Mathew Martinez, an attorney for one of the defendants, said the officers were given subpoenas so they could tell the court why they sent the texts. But they are all unavailable, indefinitely, he says.

The beleaguered police department serves a multiracial city of 115,000 people about 72 miles east of San Francisco. Authorities named at least 17 officers who texted, including the president of the Antioch police union.

The text messages came out as part of an ongoing joint investigation launched in March 2022 by the FBI and the Contra Costa District Attorney into a wide range of potential offenses committed by officers from the Antioch and nearby Pittsburgh Police Department.

The city is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit, and in May the state attorney general’s office launched a civil rights investigation into the police department.

[ad_2]