Reporters Notebook: Inside The SFPD Beating Trial — A Behind-The-Scenes Look

San Francisco CA

22 February, 2022

7:21 PM

Description

By Eleni Balakrishnan, Mission Local February 22, 2022 The first seven days of the landmark use-of-force trial of Officer Terrance Stangel have been subdued, with no grand reveals and instead just a careful elicitation of testimony from more than a dozen witnesses. Still, there is the drama of the courtroom, with the prosecution and defense each trying to make their points and establish credibility with the jury. And the trial — generally believed to be the first in the modern era in which an on-duty police officer faces criminal charges for excessive use of force — has already instigated the highly-publicized (and ongoing) fallout between the District Attorney Chesa Boudin and Police Chief William Scott. Oddly, however, there seems to be little public interest. Most days, the audience is generally sparse, including some spectators from the families of witnesses, other lawyers, and a couple of concerned white-haired citizens. Only when the defense brought a use-of-force expert to the stand did the audience grow as uniformed and plainclothes police filled the squeaky wooden seats. To read the full article, click here. Mission Local covers San Francisco from the vantage point of the Mission, a neighborhood with all of the promise and problems of a major city. You can support Mission Local here.