Latest news with #Gasner
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Man accused in alleged antisemitic attack in S.F. ordered to remain in jail without bail
A man charged with a hate crime in an alleged antisemitic attack in San Francisco's Marina District was ordered Wednesday to remain in jail without bail. Juan Diaz-Rivas, 36, faces two counts of assault, with allegations that the attack was a hate crime and caused serious injuries to the victim. Wearing an orange jumpsuit, he pleaded not guilty to the charges in San Francisco Superior Court on Wednesday. His court-appointed attorney, Adam Gasner, had asked the court to release him from custody on his own recognizance. Gasner said Diaz-Rivas, a Sonoma County resident, is employed at a restaurant, takes care of his father and has no criminal record. As for the alleged attack, Gasner said 'half of the story is being told.' Assistant District Attorney Jamal Anderson pushed back, calling for Diaz-Rivas to remain in custody based on the nature of the alleged attack. 'We believe the defendant does pose a public safety risk,' said Anderson, who shared an account of the alleged attack. Judge Harry Jacobs said he believes Diaz-Rivas poses a risk to the Jewish community and general public. The alleged remarks, Jacobs said, 'clearly sound like antisemitism.' The incident occurred on Fillmore Street near Moulton Street around 2:20 a.m. Saturday. The victim, 27, and a friend were sitting on a curb waiting for an Uber after a night out when a man started shouting, 'f— Jews, free Palestine,' the friend, Alana Gans, 28, told the Chronicle in an interview Sunday. When Gans told the man she was Jewish and asked him to leave, the man walked over and said, 'f— you,' Gans recounted. When she stood up, so did her friend, who got in between her and the man, Gans said. Others nearby recorded on their cellphones, laughed and shouted, 'f— Jews,' too, Gans said. As she tried to pull her friend's arm to walk away, the group sucker-punched and kicked her friend on the ground, repeating the anti-Jewish comments and laughing, Gans said. According to prosecutors, the victim fell to the ground, hit his head and lost consciousness. Gans said her friend suffered a swollen lip, as well as two bumps on the front of his head and a third on the back of his head. The men also attacked an employee from the nearby Balboa Cafe who tried to intervene, Gans said. Prosecutors said the worker tried to intervene when he heard the commotion and antisemitic remarks. The employee was punched and kicked, too, according to Gans and prosecutors. The assailants ran away, only to return and yell 'f— those Jews,' Gans said, adding that the attack lasted about 30 seconds. When officers showed up, she pointed out the suspects. Anderson, the prosecutor, said in court that some of the others were not yet identified. Outside the courtroom, Gasner said he believes the alleged remarks and assault were a 'result of provocation,' although he would not elaborate. 'I don't believe that there is any deep-seated root cause beyond that for these types of comments. Certainly no manifesto or no greater objective here from what we know right now,' he said. He added that he does not believe Diaz-Rivas is a danger to the victims or the public. 'We look forward to the whole story being clear,' Gasner said. Diaz-Rivas' next court hearing was set for July 2, when his custody will be reconsidered.
San Francisco Chronicle
15-05-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Juvenile suspected of killing S.F. teen found dead in warehouse basement could be tried as an adult
A San Francisco judge on Wednesday decided that prosecutors could continue their efforts to try a teenager suspected of killing his classmate in 2023 as an adult. Prosecutors filed a motion in March arguing that the teen's case should be heard in adult court — shortly after the teen's lawyers said he intended to plead guilty to a murder charge in juvenile court. He had initially pleaded not guilty. On Wednesday, the teen's attorney, Adam Gasner, argued that efforts by prosecutors to try the teenager as an adult were vindictive — motivated by a desire to punish the teenager for exercising his right to change his plea. The District Attorney's Office contested that contention. The defendant, whom the Chronicle is not naming because he was a minor at the time the killing occurred, was arrested on the day after Thanksgiving in 2024, nearly two years after 18-year-old Maxwell Maltzman's body was found in a warehouse in the Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard on January 23, 2023. Maltzman, who attended Raoul Wallenberg High School, was reported missing in early January. Prosecutors said one of the key pieces linking the defendant to the crime was a video allegedly showing the two teenagers walking together toward the warehouse in which Maltzman's body was later found, submerged in water. Maltzman's AirTag device was found near a bus stop where the teenager and another unknown male allegedly went to after walking out of the warehouse without Maltzman, police said. The other person has not been publicly identified or arrested. A detective who testified said the defendant allegedly texted a picture of his hand, cut and bloodied, to a third-party the morning after he was captured on video walking into the warehouse with Maltzman. An autopsy report determined Maltzman died of blunt-force trauma to the head. The defendant's attorney previously claimed in court that the two boys were amicable peers. Officials have not been able to tie DNA evidence to the defendant nor locate a specific instrument used to kill Maltzman, Gasner said. Wednesday's court hearing was attended by members of both the victim's and the defendant's families, who sat quietly in the room with a row of other attendees in between them. The defendant sat next to his lawyer, wearing a navy blue suit and glasses. Gasner repeatedly emphasized that the attempted plea change, and his opposition to the prosecution's efforts to move the case to adult court had not been an attempt at 'gamesmanship,' and that his client's decision was motivated by a wish for the victim's family to have closure. 'This was a desire to admit to the most serious charge that can be brought in the juvenile justice system,' said Gasner. 'That's an enormous undertaking, an enormous wish to end this case.' Juvenile Justice Court Judge Richard Darwin acknowledged, however, that pleading to the murder charge in juvenile court would be 'far and away much more lenient than the possible consequences should the matter get transferred to adult court.' 'We're aware of that, that's not lost on us,' said Gasner. Darwin ruled that prosecutors could continue pressing for the case to be tried in adult court. Prosecutors must petition judges to 'transfer' juvenile cases to adult court. On Wednesday, Darwin also set the date of July 22, when attorneys will reconvene to schedule when the pivotal transfer hearing will take place.
