Protesters gathered on the steps of San Francisco’s Hall of Justice holding photos of two women they said had been let down by the city’s criminal justice system and threatening to mount a recall against a judge if he didn’t do something about it.
The small rally Friday morning preceded a scheduling hearing for Troy McAlister, who was charged with vehicular manslaughter in a 2020 New Year’s crash that killed 27-year-old Hanako Abe and 60-year-old Elizabeth Platt in a SoMa crosswalk. Friday’s hearing set the stage for a courtroom showdown later this month in which McAlister’s lawyers will work to convince a judge that he should be diverted into drug treatment instead of criminal prosecution.
Friday’s demonstrators, outraged at the prospect that McAlister could escape a criminal trial, said McAlister’s dozens of felony cases in San Francisco alone showed he is a poor candidate for diversion. At least one sign called to “dump” San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju and to recall San Francisco Superior Court Judge Michael Begert, who presides over drug treatment courts…