By Marshall Hammons
San Francisco – Five felony counts and one misdemeanor enter. Only two felonies and the misdemeanor leave.
An 18-year-old defendant was brought in to sit before a judge.
Two police officers testified about the events. One of the officers was Officer Stricklin and the other was Sergeant Bugrin. Sergeant Bugrin, the D.A., the defense counsel, and Judge Woods watched a security video together in court.
The officer who actually ID’d the defendant was not brought before the court. Sergeant Bugrin said that he took a screenshot from the surveillance video and sent it around the department to see if anyone recognized the suspects.
A month later, the officer who ID’d the defendant stopped by Sergeant Bugrin and said he recognized the suspect as the defendant. That officer recognized the defendant from the two times the officer saw 
the defendant while on patrol. The officer did not have a name and went off his memory and the screenshot.
The video depicts two 18-year-olds walking over to two 13-year-old kids. The defendant and his friend asked them for their AirPods, but the 13-year-olds said no.
The defendant and his friend then started punching at the kids. One of the kids fled, and the other stayed. The 18-year-olds stopped and got off the bus at the next stop.
Surprisingly, no one was injured during the incident and everyone still had their own property.
After hearing the evidence, the judge denied three of the five felony counts because the D.A. did not provide evidence to support those crimes. That is a rare occurrence that a judge denies half of the charges in a hearing like this one.
The D.A. could not explain the basis of assault with intent to cause great bodily harm. The release of a defendant is oftentimes dependent on the charges the D.A. has filed. If the D.A. overcharges, the defendant can be held for months in jail without an opportunity to get bailed out. If a D.A. thinks the person is worthy of staying in jail, they will sometimes add charges just so the defendant cannot be released.
Even though several charges were rejected by the judge, the defendant will still stand trial for two felonies and one misdemeanor.
