Trial set to begin for slaying of Kevin Nishita 2 years ago
OAKLAND — On the two-year anniversary of his death, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price reaffirmed her office’s commitment to seeking justice for Kevin Nishita, a former police officer who was killed in Oakland while working as a security officer for journalists.
“The murder of Kevin Nishita is a heartbreaking tragedy for this community,” Price said in a statement. “Our victim advocates have been in contact with Mr. Nishita’s family and the other persons injured in this incident, keeping them apprised of the case every step of the way. While nothing can bring him back, our hope and intent are that justice will be served, and that will afford the family some closure.”
The two individuals suspected of slaying Nishita are being charged with murder and related enhancements, with the trial set to begin early next month, according to a Friday release. While the district attorney is unable to disclose evidence publicly, she expressed confidence in the defendants’ culpability and vowed to pursue accountability while deterring violent crime in the community.
District attorney announces charge for former prosecutor
OAKLAND — Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is charging an attorney who worked under her predecessor with prosecutorial misconduct for allegedly assisting the defense in a case that he had been involved in prosecuting.
About a week ago, Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer ordered former Alameda County prosecutor Amilcar “Butch” Ford to be booked by Dec. 20 on a misdemeanor charge for intervening after prosecuting, violating the state’s Business and Professions Code. Price praised the court for treating Ford like any other defendant instead of affording him special treatment.
“Mr. Ford interfered in the seminal prosecution of a police officer following the shooting death of Steven Taylor at Walmart in San Leandro,” Price said in a statement. “Mr. Ford’s misconduct potentially makes it more challenging for this office to hold the officer accountable for his actions.”
The judge vacated the jury trial for Taylor’s slaying and is set to hear new motions in the case on Dec. 20.
Alameda County Sheriff’s Office working with DA to address jail death
OAKLAND — Earlier this month, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced that the county Sheriff’s Office is cooperating with her office in the investigation of Maurice Monk’s death.
Monk, who was arrested for disorderly conduct and failing to appear in court, was found unresponsive in his cell a month later on Nov. 15, 2021, and had likely been dead for at least 72 hours before he was discovered. Evidence suggested he was struggling with mental health and medical issues.
“Mr. Monk, I am told, had a mental illness – a diagnosis,” Price said in a statement. “He had medical issues. We all know that mental illness is not a crime, and it should not be a death sentence in Alameda County.”
The county recently settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Monk’s relatives for about $7 million, and a lawsuit against Wellpath, the county’s medical provider, is ongoing.
Alameda County Public Defender joins call to protect reasonable bail
OAKLAND — The Alameda County Public Defender’s Office is joining other public defenders from across the state in urging the state’s Supreme Court to protect a defendant’s right to affordable bail.
Specifically, the public defenders are asking the state Supreme Court to prevent lower courts from undermining the landmark 2021 ruling in Humphrey, which established that it is unconstitutional to set bail at an amount a person cannot afford. Despite the ruling, prosecutors across the state have continued to detain accused individuals by imposing unaffordable bail, with a 2022 appeals court ruling, known as Kowalczyk, now threatening to further undermine the Humphry decision. The state Supreme Court is currently reviewing the Kowalczyk decision and a coalition of public defenders is urging the court to reverse that decision and uphold Humphrey.
“In a time when many politicians are stoking fears around public safety, it’s important to realize that detaining individuals pretrial is actually more likely to result in a person becoming involved with the criminal legal system again,” Kathleen Guneratne, assistant public defender in the county Public Defender’s Office, said in a statement. “If we are serious about making our legal system less racist and about making communities stronger and safer, we need to make sure our courts are not rolling back pretrial protections.”
The Humphrey ruling outlines specific situations where a person accused of a crime can be held in jail before their trial, but the Kowalczyk decision would increase the viable reasons for keeping someone in jail. Traditionally, California law allows bail in nearly all cases except those involving the death penalty. If upheld, the public defenders argue Kowalczyk would lead to a significant increase in the number of people being held in jail.
The public defenders argue that a person in jail is more likely to accept a plea deal, even if they’re innocent, just to get out of jail, putting them at a disadvantage during negotiations with prosecutors.
“The California Supreme Court should be offended by the Kowalczyk court’s unwarranted expansion of pretrial detention, which thwarts the High Court’s clear directive in Humphrey that setting unaffordable bail is unconstitutional,” Sujung Kim, manager of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Research Unit, said in a statement. “The Supreme Court should overturn Kowalczyk, which emboldens courts across the state to continue disregarding and misinterpreting Humphrey, placing hundreds of thousands of Californians at risk of pretrial detention simply because they are poor. The High Court must set a bright-line rule that folks charged with non-violent misdemeanor crimes should never be jailed pretrial.”
