San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin let off a man twice for felony domestic violence before he was arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of a 7-month-old baby.
Joseph Williams, 26, was arrested on Tuesday night, hours after the baby boy was pronounced dead in a local hospital.
Williams had been arrested for domestic violence twice this year, although charges were never brought. Boudin said the victim, whom Williams was dating, refused to cooperate with prosecutors both times.
In the first incident, Williams was arrested for aggravated assault, false imprisonment, child endangerment, and felony domestic violence. In his second arrest, police arrested him on false imprisonment and felony domestic violence.
“Given the lack of cooperation with prosecution, we were unable to move forward with either of those cases,” Rachel Marshall, a spokeswoman for Boudin said in a statement.
Despite those lack of charges, Boudin said his office “will as a matter of policy prosecute any domestic violence case we think we can prove with or without the cooperation of the victim.”
“The death of [the child] is a horrific tragedy and should have never happened,” said Boudin. “The loss of a child so young is hard to even comprehend.”
Under Boudin’s tenure as district attorney, prosecution of domestic violence has dropped precipitously. In 2020, his office only filed charges in 15% of felony domestic violence cases. That rate has remained the same this year.
“Domestic violence is a crime against the state of California, and the district attorney’s job is to work with what the police department has gathered at the crime scene and develop the evidence to present a case,” Kathy Black, executive director of La Casa de las Madres, a domestic violence shelter in San Francisco, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “That’s his job — it’s not the victim’s job.”
According to statistics given by the city, Boudin, whose campaign was bankrolled by left-wing billionaire George Soros, dismissed 113 of 131 arrests for domestic violence in the last three months of 2020.
The arrest of Williams sparked outrage across the political spectrum.
“This is horrible and also avoidable,” California GOP gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner tweeted. “Gavin’s District Attorneys across California are releasing dangerous criminals back on to our streets. Enough is enough.”
Facing a potential recall election, Boudin’s role as San Francisco’s chief prosecutor has garnered sharp criticism.
Homicides spiked 10% in San Francisco last year, car thefts by 34%, arson by 39%, and burglaries by 47%. Shootings were up 32%, and the seemingly out-of-control homeless population has left many residents complaining about a general deterioration in quality of life.
One of Boudin’s first actions as district attorney was decriminalizing a number of misdemeanor crimes, such as public urination and blocking sidewalks. In the past two years, San Francisco has seen one of the lowest prosecutions for felon arrests in the city’s history.
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“We have survivors who tell us their cases are just being dismissed,” said San Francisco domestic violence advocate Beverly Upton. “Pretty soon, they’re going to stop telling us. Pretty soon, they’re going to stop calling.”
