S.F. officer pleads not guilty to homicide charges
A San Francisco police officer pleaded not guilty Tuesday to homicide charges he’s facing for shooting an unarmed man in 2017.
Officer Kenneth Cha entered his plea during an arraignment, according to his attorney, Scott Burrell. He was charged with voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semiautomatic firearm for shooting Sean Moore on the doorstep of Moore’s home in San Francisco’s Ocean View neighborhood.
Cha and his partner, Officer Colin Patino, responded to a call that Moore was violating a restraining order for “noise harassment” by pounding on a shared wall.
The encounter began with a tense verbal exchange that escalated quickly, as Moore, standing behind a metal security door, cursed at the officers and told them to leave. Roughly five minutes into the confrontation, captured by police body cameras, Moore opened the door and the officers pepper-sprayed him, causing him to retreat into the house.
About a minute and a half later the officers told Moore he was under arrest. In the footage, Moore opens the door again, descends a few steps and backs away as the police approach him, at which point Officer Colin Patino strikes Moore with a baton and Cha fires two shots.
Moore died three years later while serving a sentence in San Quentin Prison on unrelated charges. An autopsy listed the cause of death as “acute intestinal obstruction” and “severe abdominal adhesions” due to “remote gunshot wound to abdomen,” according to the San Francisco Examiner, which obtained a copy of the coroner’s report.
Cha’s case marks the second homicide prosecution of a police officer in San Francisco for actions he took while on duty. District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a progressive who has pledged to crack down on officer misconduct, charged the first homicide case last year.
Currently, Boudin has pending cases against six officers he believes used excessive force.
As of Tuesday Cha remained employed as a San Francisco police officer, his attorney said.
Burrell, Cha’s attorney, declined to discuss his duties or assignment status. His next court date is set for January.