Rape and assault charges against a San Francisco man must be dismissed because the trial judge postponed his proceedings while the prosecutor was preparing for other trials, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
While postponements are legally justified when a prosecutor is already trying another case, the delay in Hector Hernandez’s case violated his right to a speedy trial, said the 1st District Court of Appeal.
Hernandez was charged in March 2024 with rape, sexual battery and false imprisonment, crimes that allegedly occurred in 2012 . After he asserted his rights under the Constitution’s Sixth Amendment, which requires courts to hold criminal trials without unnecessary delay, and under California law, a judge gave prosecutors until March 14 of this year to bring his case to trial…