China Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Attorney accused of 'witness intimidation' San Francisco -- A San Francisco murder suspect's attorney sought assurances Wednesday that he would not be arrested for arranging what prosecutors called a "blatant act of witness intimidation" involving eight suspected gang members who stood up during a witness' testimony. The defendant, Charles "Cheese" Heard, 25, was ordered to stand trial Wednesday on murder, attempted robbery and weapons charges linked to the slaying of Richard Barrett, 29, outside a Broadway nightclub in November 2008. Prosecutors say that Heard was after Barrett's gem-encrusted pendant of the Flintstones' Bamm-Bamm character. During the first day of the preliminary hearing on Tuesday, just as a star witness was asked whether she recognized anyone as responsible for Barrett's shooting, eight reputed gang members stood up in unison, crossed their arms and stared at the witness. The witness - a Texas woman who was in San Francisco for a conference and with friends when she saw the 1 a.m. shooting - nonetheless identified Heard as the gunman. Prosecutor Michael Swart vociferously objected that the eight men who stood up amounted to "blatant witness intimidation." After the hearing, the eight men were arrested on suspicion of gang-related witness intimidation. It is not clear who ordered the arrests. No decision has been made as yet on whether the men will be formally charged. Heard's attorney, Eric Safire, acknowledged Wednesday that he arranged the incident to possibly confuse the identification by the witness. Safire then sought assurances from Judge Wallace Douglass and the prosecutor that he would be immune from prosecution. "Before I continue, I want a representation from the district attorney's office that I'm not going to be arrested," Safire said, adding that the men were "here at my request - I motioned for them to stand up." He said the men's arrest created a "chilling effect on my ability to represent my client." He threatened to withdraw from the case. "I can't guarantee that you won't be arrested," Douglass said. "The district attorney can arrest who he wants." Click on the link for the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Jack McCoy says GUILTY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 That guy is in huge trouble. We have a serious witness intimitation problem in San Francisco right now. Even though the overall crime rate is way down, there are a handful of gang leaders who are getting away with murder because people are afraid to testify against them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Texas women don't intimidate that easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Texas women don't intimidate that easy. Gotta give her credit for her toughness. Still, it might have been a little different if she had to return to her home in the Hunter's Point neighborhood after the hearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Gotta give her credit for her toughness.Still, it might have been a little different if she had to return to her home in the Hunter's Point neighborhood after the hearing. True, especially unarmed. It is one thing to stand up to threats with firepower on your side,quite another to pull a Gandhi...especially with gangs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 WTF kind of piece of **** defense attorney would do that? I hope he gets into massive trouble for this, that crap is unacceptable. On a related note, I had no idea witness intimidation by gangs was a big problem in SF right now. My best girlfriends live downtown and I visit all the time and this is the first thing I've heard about it. That's really too bad, hopefully the city can get a handle on this group of gang leaders involved in this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 It takes some serious chutzpah to arrange a stunt like this, then look for assurances you won't be prosecuted for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 WTF kind of piece of **** defense attorney would do that? I hope he gets into massive trouble for this, that crap is unacceptable.On a related note, I had no idea witness intimidation by gangs was a big problem in SF right now. My best girlfriends live downtown and I visit all the time and this is the first thing I've heard about it. That's really too bad, hopefully the city can get a handle on this group of gang leaders involved in this. It is only a problem in one neighborhood. In general, San Francisco is really safe. So far this year, we have only 36 homicides in the entire city. Not bad for 800,000 people. Compare that to other cities of roughly the same size. Baltimore had 232 murders last year, with less people. DC had 186, St Louis had 167, Kansas City had 126, Phoenix had 169, etc. Your friends are not in danger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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