SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco County Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered the release of an unhoused man who spent 156 days in jail on misdemeanor charges after what his attorney called an arrest without credible cause.
Deputy Public Defender Elly Leggatt argued her client should never have been jailed, noting he had already served 78 credited days. Judge Brian Stretch ordered his release to pretrial services.
According to court records, the man was first charged with misdemeanor vandalism more than two years ago after an incident that resulted in a broken car mirror. One year later, he was accused of making criminal threats after being approached by two men.
When police arrived, the man was “still in a defensive state,” Leggatt said, which led to the charge. His only other prior charge was a graffiti offense that occurred 11 years ago.
Leggatt told the court her client has been unhoused for a long period and stressed that the most recent arrest involved unnecessary police intervention. She stated, “It seems like the police just saw him smoking from a pipe,” and arrested him despite no evidence of illegal or criminal behavior.
Deputy District Attorney Owen Nelson pushed back, stating his concerns by citing multiple bench warrants and calling the man a “flight risk.” Nelson also pointed to incidents involving loitering and possession of paraphernalia, arguing those factors justified continued custody and disqualified him from diversion.
Judge Stretch denied diversion but said jail was not the appropriate setting, acknowledging how long the man had been in custody. He instead ordered his release to pretrial services, telling the court the goal was to “find the right path for him.”
Through court proceedings, the case remains subject to Marsy’s Law.
Marsy’s Law, also known as the California Victims’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008, is a constitutional amendment that grants crime victims the right to be heard at key stages of the legal process, to be notified of court proceedings, and to receive restitution.
The man, who has already spent more than five months incarcerated on misdemeanor charges, is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 9.
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The man’s real crime was being poor, unhoused, and visible. The deputy public defender states plainly: there was no evidence of illegal behavior. Yet the arrest happened, the charges were filed, and five months of a man’s life were confiscated before the court acknowledged the obvious: jail was “not the appropriate setting.”
Stretch’s denial of diversion is the tell. He upheld the punitive framework, agreeing with the prosecution’s characterization that past bench warrants and “loitering” justified criminalization. Releasing him to pretrial services isn’t freedom; it’s exchanging a concrete cell for a bureaucratic one, maintaining state supervision over a life deemed disorderly. The judge’s goal to “find the right path for him” is the language of carceral management, not restoration.
Most cynically, the invocation of Marsy’s Law hangs over this case like a shadow. Originally sold as victims’ rights, here it functions as a procedural barrier, ensuring that even a case built on the flimsiest premise—a broken mirror from two years prior and a “defensive state” misread as a threat—must grind on. It extends the process, guaranteeing more hearings, more anxiety, and more punishment-by-procedure. THANKS BRIAN STRETCH REALLY HELPFUL