---------- THE sAN fRANCISCO 8
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:04:47 -0700 (PDT)
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Open Letter to Attorney General Jerry Brown: Drop the Charges Against Francisco Torres! End the Prosecution of the SF 8! The failed, costly and unethical
prosecution of the San Francisco 8 must end. For the last six years,
prosecution of this case has ripped respected elders from their families and
from their service to their communities. Previous attempts to prosecute
this case in the 1970s were dismissed when it was revealed that so-called
“confessions” were the product of torture by the New Orleans police
department. Although this is a California
state and not a county prosecution, the cost of the case, which is in the
millions, is being borne by the City of San Francisco at the precise moment
when vital services are being cut back. After all these years, the
results of this prosecution show the weakness of the state’s case and the unjust nature of the
charges: • On July 6, your office was
forced to drop all charges against four of the San Francisco 8 (Ray Boudreaux,
Richard Brown Hank Jones and Harold Taylor) acknowledging that you had
“insufficient evidence” to prosecute them. • Your office had already been
forced to drop charges against a fifth member of the SF8, Richard O’Neal, a
year earlier. • Your office offered and
accepted pleas from Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim for lesser charges in
exchange for probation and time served. Francisco Torres is now the only
remaining SF 8 defendant. Your office also offered him probation and time served in
exchange for a plea to a lesser charge. He refused your offer, and maintains
his innocence. Mr. Torres is a Vietnam veteran
and a former member of the Black Panther Party. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New
York City, Mr. Torres is a respected elder, community activist, and mentor for youth.
He is a husband, a father, and a grandfather. Enough is enough! The continued
prosecution of this discredited case based on torture is unconscionable. We urge you, Attorney General
Jerry Brown, to drop all charges against Francisco Torres and end the prosecution of the SF
8. We, the undersigned, Martha Laureano, National
Congress for Puerto Rican Rights END THE PROSECUTION OF THE SF
8 ! |