By Ryan Oh
A San Francisco man, David Murillo, found himself facing the potential charge of murder after allegedly engaging in a confrontation with three drunk Australian men.
At the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor and the defender’s attorney had a chance to question witnesses concerning the incident two years ago. The first witness, Officer Christopher Catoch, recalled that according to the victim’s friend who was on the site, the victim and his two friends had an altercation on June 2, 2017, on the staircase that connects to the ground level of a hotel. The officer stated that the witness he talked with on the scene was not “overly intoxicated,” and, therefore, the officer believed that witness’ statements.
As soon as officers arrived, they found the alleged victim suffering from a fatal head injury. Although the San Francisco Fire Department responded accordingly, the victim, unfortunately, passed away at San Francisco General Hospital.
The prosecutor then brought a second witness to the stand who identified herself as working for the video department of the police station at San Francisco County. Her testimony confirmed that there was a video 
that filmed the incident – including key instances like an altercation between Murillo’s group and the victim’s group and the actual assault.
The third witness, Officer Brendan Williams, added more specifics onto the first witness’ testimony. He also interviewed the victim’s friend, that the first witness mentioned in his testimony. From his memory, Williams stated that the victim’s friend identified the attacker as a five-foot, 10-inch Mexican male with short, black hair. The friend said the suspect hit the victim at the top of a staircase, causing the victim to fall down on his back, which led further to severe head injury. Officer Williams mentioned that the victim’s friend was heavily intoxicated at the scene and during his subsequent testimony to the San Francisco Police Department. However, although Officer Williams recalled a strong odor of alcohol, he suggested that there was no sign of using cocaine for the Australian group when the defendant’s attorney brought up that question. The officer also confirmed that the defendant was on the scene and has been the suspect for this case.
Following Officer Williams’ testimony, another officer from San Francisco County testified that all of the victim’s friends, including the victim himself, were intoxicated during the incident.
The last testimony came from Sergeant Mark Hutchings of the Homicide Division within the San Francisco Police Department. Sergeant Hutchings mentioned that the defendant claimed he struck the victim in self-defense, although the defendant was not entirely sure why he struck the man. According to the sergeant, there was an altercation between the victim’s group and that of the defendant during the incident. There was a heated exchange of words, while David Murillo supposedly said, “Hey, let it go” to his companions. Somehow, Sergeant Hutchings described, Murillo then struck the victim on his teeth. Sergeant Hutchings confirmed that the victim and his companions were intoxicated, but it is unclear whether the victim’s group used the word “c**t” and offended Murillo and his group.
In the closing statements, the People argued that there is sufficient evidence to suggest David Murillo as the man guilty of the victim’s murder, while the defendant’s counsel stated that the victim and his friends were under the influence of alcohol and potential influence of cocaine, which questions the credibility of testimonies given by the victim’s friends at the scene. The judge ordered the defendant held to answer for the charges.
