In open court on Tuesday, a San Francisco judge called out District Attorney Chesa Boudin for running an office embroiled in disorganization and turnover.
"I cannot express in any more certain terms my disapproval of the manner in which the Office of the District Attorney is being managed," said Superior Court Judge Bruce Chan.
Chan, like Boudin, is a former city public defender, according to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle. Boudin took office in January 2020.
According to a Boudin spokesperson, the judge later, “apologized to the D.A. for his statements and how they’ve been interpreted and regrets that others have used this in furtherance of their own political goals.”
Chan did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
The hearing was on a case where a defendant was charged with felony gun possession and driving with a suspended or revoked license. Chan granted a motion to dismiss the case, and Assistant District Attorney Rachel McDaniel said she intended to refile the case.
Deputy Public Defender Martina Avalos, who represents the defendant, accused prosecutors in Boudin’s office of routinely failing to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense in a reasonable amount of time. She dealt with three such violations in the past three weeks.
Chan then started criticizing Boudin about day-to-day management of criminal cases.
"We simply cannot have the current levels of inadvertence, disorganization, and expect there to be any confidence in what we do here collectively," Chan said at the beginning of the hearing. "Constant turnover, constant managerial reorganization, all these things, whether it’s intentional, whether it’s reckless, whether it’s excusable neglect, that’s not in front of me today."
Chan, who was appointed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009, accused Boudin’s office of overemphasizing criminal justice matters on the "national or state stage" at the expense of "the unglamorous yet necessary work of public prosecution."
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