San Francisco's first known excessive force trial against an active police officer has ended in an acquittal.
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A jury on Monday found Officer Terrence Stangel not guilty on three felony charges for beating Dacari Spiers with a baton in 2019, with a mistrial declared on the fourth after the jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
The San Francisco District Attorney's Office didn't respond to to KCBS Radio's request for comment prior to publication. The San Francisco Police Department directed KCBS Radio to reach out to the District Attorney following a request for comment.
In December 2020, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin charged Stangel with battery involving serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury and assault under the color of authority. Prior to the charges, no active San Francisco police officers were known to have been charged with excessive force.
Stangel and his partner initially responded to a call accusing Spiers of domestic violence against his then-girlfriend on Oct. 7, 2019 in Fisherman's Wharf. Spiers, who claimed he was comforting his girlfriend at the time when police arrived, broke his leg and wrist after Stangel struck Spiers as many as eight times with his baton.
Last month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a $700,000 settlement with Spiers.
Stangel's trial inflamed tensions between the San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney's Office. In February, Police Chief Bill Scott severed a memorandum of understanding between the agencies following pretrial testimony from an investigator in Boudin's office who claimed in January she feared losing her job if she didn't withhold evidence of the 911 call alleging Spiers had committed domestic violence.
Late last month, Boudin and Scott agreed to extend the memorandum of understanding allowing the District Attorney's Office to independently investigate police use-of-force incidents for another 60 days as they continue to negotiate a new agreement. State and local officials, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, have mediated talks.
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