Case tossed against man accused of San Francisco hate crime, assault
A case has been dismissed against a man who was accused of a hate crime and assault after a hung jury in favor of an acquittal.
The woman in the case, Wendy Drew, accused the defendant of calling her the N-word. Despite the acquittal, she insists he hurled the racial slur at her.
Both said they acted in self-defense.
SAN FRANCISCO - Charges have been dropped in connection to a wild fight caught on video in San Francisco.
The melee happened at a liquor store in the area of Drumm and Market streets between a man and a woman after she claimed he called her the N-word.
What we know
Charges were dropped against the defendant after his trial ended in a hung jury, in favor of acquittal.
"Her reaction was uncalled for because it did not actually happen as she thought," said Deputy Public Defender Deborah Awolope.
Awolope said her client, Irvin Rivera-Lara took the stand, as did his accuser, Wendy Drew.
"In this situation, Wendy was triggered, when she thought she heard the N-word, a word that was not actually used," Awolope said.
What they're saying
However Drew told KTVU on Thursday, she knew what she heard.
"I am disappointed because he did call me f— N-word. He looked me in the face and said it," Drew said.
Drew was on the phone with her mother when she said Lara-Rivera called her the N-word while walking his dog. The man's attorney said he never used the slur and instead was calling his dog, named Pas Pas, to make sure the pet didn't get in her way.
Dig deeper
"Misjudged the situation, misheard Mr. Lara-Rivera and thought she was called the N-word, which was not the case," Awolope said.
She said Drew confronted her client, who pushed her away. According to the attorney, Drew then threw the phone at his head and charged at him as he entered a liquor store. Lara-Rivera ended up getting pepper sprayed by a customer.
"One thing led to another, and Mr. Lara-Rivera was put in a position where he felt he needed to defend himself," Awolope said.
Drew sees it differently.
"He shoves me to the ground and then proceeds to hover over me to like show dominance," she said. "So when I get up, my reaction was to throw my phone at him."
Awolope has represented other clients in which a jury rejected the version of events as presented by police and prosecutors.
"And that is the reason why we, as public defenders, really emphasize on the presumption of innocence," Awolope said.
KTVU legal analyst Michael Cardoza said racial epithets should not lead to physical confrontations.
Now words, no matter how opprobrious, how offensive, how racial they are, does not give the listener the right to turn it physical," Cardoza said.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
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