California Department of Justice

Harry Dorfman, Lead Homicide Prosecutor in S.F., Named Superior Court Judge

Harry Dorfman, a prosecutor who has worked at the San Francisco District Attorney's Office for 28 years, is set to be a judge. Governor Jerry Brown appointed him on Tuesday to one of the open seats on the San Francisco Superior Court. Dorfman, who successfully prosecuted the Edwin Ramos case, has ... More >>

Nikolaus Crumbley Murder: Jury Deadlocked on Cold Case Rape and Murder

A San Francisco jury deadlocked on whether a local man was responsible for raping and strangling Nikolaus Crumbley and leaving his body at McLaren Park nearly three decades ago. District Attorney George Gascón said that despite DNA evidence linking 48-year-old William Payne to the crime scene, the ... More >>

Pablo Sandoval Will Not Be Arrested for Alleged Sexual Assault

It's been a good week for Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval. On Tuesday, he helped lead the National League to a Giant blowout in the All-Star game, and today, investigators say there is insufficient evidence to arrest him for alleged sexual assault.On June 1, a 21-year-old Santa Cruz native filed a se ... More >>

DNA Lab Cover-Up: SFPD to Investigate Claims in Secret Court Records

Judge Unseals Secret Court Records Detailing Alleged DNA Lab Cover-Up

Rockne Harmon co-authored a controversial internal memo on crime lab problems​A judge unsealed court records today detailing a whistle-blower's allegations that police and prosecutors might have been involved in an orchestrated effort to mislead auditors about the state of the San Francisco Police ... More >>

Secret Court Transcript Reveals Concerns About 'Deliberate Attempt' to Mislead Crime Lab Auditors

​Judge: "It's always the coverup that makes the things worse than the problem to begin with"The San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney's Office are both implicated in allegations that a deliberate effort was made to conceal defects at the city's troubled forensics lab from state in ... More >>

DA's Office to Appeal Judge's Order Unsealing DNA Lab Memo

George Gascón​Prosecutors in the office of District Attorney George Gascón have decided to appeal a judge's order that they release an internal memo detailing problems with DNA analysis in the San Francisco Police Department crime lab.The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Saturday that the DA' ... More >>

Over Prosecutor's Objections, Judge Says He Is 'Compelled by Law' to Release DNA Lab Memo

​A judge rejected a prosecutor's pleas today that he reconsider his decision to release a controversial secret memo criticizing the San Francisco Police Department crime lab, stating that he is "compelled by law" to share the document with defense attorneys.In his rulings, San Francisco Superior C ... More >>

City Attorney Contradicts DA George Gascón's Statements on DNA Lab Memo

George Gascón​The San Francisco City Attorney's Office yesterday contradicted statements District Attorney George Gascón made last week about why his office has refused to release an internal memo criticizing the DNA unit of the city's troubled police crime lab.The memo, which was authored by na ... More >>

DA Candidates Call for Release of Secret Crime Lab Memo, Citing SF Weekly Cover Story

​Contenders in this year's election for San Francisco District Attorney have called on current DA George Gascón to release an internal memo that criticizes procedures for analyzing DNA evidence at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory.The memo, the existence of which was first reve ... More >>

Crime Lab Confidential: DA and SFPD Withheld Damaging Memo About DNA Lab Failings

Newspaper Backs Up Alleged 'Misquote' of Top CA Forensic Scientist

​We reported a few weeks ago on the uproar caused in North Carolina by Jill Spriggs -- chief of the California Department of Justice's Forensic Services Bureau -- when she defended controversial crime-lab practices before a panel of North Carolina legislators. In a brief interview at the time, Spr ... More >>

SFPD crime lab's DNA evidence could be tainted by concealed mistakes

A Timeline of Problems at the SFPD DNA Lab

​Through reporting over the past month, SF Weekly has uncovered multiple instances of scientifically and ethically questionable conduct by DNA analysts at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory. Our findings focus on two lapses in particular: the destruction of records of a potential ... More >>

Exclusive: Prosecutor Says DA Is Sitting on His Report Critical of Crime Lab

Rockne Harmon​DA's Office Denies Memo's Existence, But Prosecutor and DNA Expert Says He Wrote It in MarchOne of the nation's foremost DNA experts says he wrote an in-house report for the San Francisco District Attorney's office criticizing the DNA unit of the San Francisco Police Department Crime ... More >>

Key Witness in Chris Brymer Hate Crime Case Contradicts Story of Police, Prosecutors

Henry Therkield​One of two key witnesses in the hate crime assault and criminal threatening case against Chris Brymer -- the former University of Southern California and National Football League offensive lineman featured in the current SF Weekly cover story -- now denies that Brymer threatened hi ... More >>

The Killer of His Daughter's Mother

A cunning American boy becomes a Mexican Cartel soldier and East L.A. executioner.

Sheriff Mike Hennessey Asks To Opt Out Of Immigration Fingerprint ID Program

​Beating out a resolution to be introduced today by the Board of Supervisors urging him to do so, San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey asked the state attorney general today for assistance in opting out of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) fingerprint screening program known as Secure C ... More >>

A Lack of Conviction

As D.A. Kamala Harris campaigns to be attorney general, her success rate in felony trials has dropped below that of any big-city prosecutor in California.

D.A. Kamala Harris Doesn't Know How Many S.F. Cops Are Also Criminals

​You heard that right: San Francisco District Attorney and Police Chief George Gascon said at a press conference this afternoon that they don't know how many police officers in San Francisco have past criminal convictions.The press conference came in the wake of damaging revelations in the San Fra ... More >>

Harsh Audit Slams Overworked, Careless S.F. Crime Lab

​San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon announced today that the embattled crime lab's drug unit will remain closed until it can adhere to the industry's average annual caseload per worker -- just one of many recommendations in a peer audit of the drug lab released by the police Tuesday. The ind ... More >>

Perverting Justice

Jessica's Law prevents paroled sex offenders from residing near schools or parks. That means they can only live one place in S.F.: on the streets.

Time Bomb

Weather Underground leaders claimed their bombings were devised to avoid bloodshed. But FBI agents suspect the radical '70s group killed an S.F. cop in the name of revolution.

Chronic City: Taking the High Road -- Attorneys Say DUI Laws Shouldn't Apply To Pot

Students for Sensible Drug PolicyHey, watch where you're going!​Remember the first few times you drove high? You knew you were stoned, you knew it might be dangerous to operate a motor vehicle, and you drove like a little old lady.This tendency of stoners to overcompensate for their impairment is ... More >>

Chronic City: Oh, Noes! Fewer Narcs! Budget Crisis Could Mean Fewer Drug Busts.

Is it game over for the state's narcotics officers? California's budget crunch could cut almost a third of the agents from the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, according to Attorney General Jerry Brown.Budget negotiators, facing the financial meltdown of the state treasury, have proposed lopping $20 ... More >>

With Egg Still Dripping from SFPD's Faces in L'Affaire de la Plaza, S.F. Declares Other Suspicious Stabbing Death 'Accidental'

John 'Daniel' Schirra"Sometime past midnight on Labor Day of [2007], 22-year-old John "Daniel" Schirra was running nude along an Ingleside District street, yelling for help. He was in the grips of a bad acid trip, and had either just been stabbed or was about to be. He tried to stop two cars and ran ... More >>

Stiffed

Amidst all the murders in San Francisco, some suspicious deaths are hidden in a secret burial ground of bureaucracy.

Enter the Dragon Head

Raymond Chow says he's left his gangster days behind to help bring peace to Chinatown's streets. Is he for real?

What's Best -- Pistol or Pit Bull?

SF Weekly's consumer guide to smooth and speedy acquisition of effective self-defense

Looking A little Green

Taking the Sierra Club's helm, boy wonder Adam Werbach confronts more than his own inexperience

Dead Heat

Despite the deaths of Aaron Williams and Mark Garcia, the SFPD continues to use pepper spray on suspects who stand a good chance of dying in custody.

Randy Shaw's Power Plays

Sixteen years ago, Randy Shaw started a housing clinic with $50 and a good idea: educating tenants. Now he's got more than $900,000 a year to spend -- and clout to match.