Some question why charges against Mow took so long

STOCKTON — Though pleased that Port Commissioner Victor Mow has been charged with vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol, those who knew the 82year-old man who was killed in the Nov. 28 accident still wonder why it took so long.

“I feel like it’s favoritism,” Naveed Malik, a close friend of the late Muhammad Ashraf Butt, said as he stood in the courtyard behind the Masjid Al Emaan mosque in central Stockton on Friday morning.

“If it would be a common person, I don’t think it would have taken this long. It would be a totally different picture.”

The 77-year-old Mow was charged Thursday by the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office with committing vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and with a DUI that caused injury.

According to the D.A.’s complaint, Mow allegedly was “under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and a drug and under their combined influence.”

The D.A.’s Office sent a written response Friday when asked about the twomonth gap between the fatal crash and the filing of charges.

“The SJCDA’s Office has a previously scheduled in-person meeting with family members of Muhammad Ashraf Butt next week,” the statement said. “There will be many topics of discussion and questions by the family; the length of the investigation may be one of those questions. We will answer any questions the family has with the family.”

According to the D.A.’s Office, Mow took a “preliminary alcohol screening test” the night of the accident that indicated his blood-alcohol level was .10. A subsequent test showed a blood-alcohol level of .076. The legal limit is .08.

Mow subsequently was transported to the San Joaquin County Jail. Bail was set at $450,000. Mow posted bail and was released early in the morning on Nov. 29, Mow’s attorney, Al Ellis, said Friday. Mow’s first court date is Feb. 21 before Judge Richard Guiliani.

Ellis said multiple factors, but not Mow’s status locally, play into how the case has been handled:

• Butt was crossing on a dark night, pushing a walker, was not in a crosswalk, and was difficult to see.

• Conclusive blood-testing results can take weeks or months.

• There was no evidence Mow was a flight risk.

• Mow had no previous criminal record.

• The vehicular manslaughter charge is “without gross negligence,” meaning Mow was not speeding, did not run his car off the roadway, and did not commit any other obvious driving violation.

Ellis added he does not believe Mow, a former Stockton city councilman and county supervisor, has received special treatment because of his status.

“Absolutely not, in my opinion,” Ellis said. “If anything, I think prominent people have a tougher time because (authorities) don’t want it to look like they are getting special treatment.”

Malik disagrees, and before charges were filed, Butt’s younger son, Hafiz Ahmad, said he was convinced Mow has received preferential treatment.

“We just want justice,” Ahmad said. “What’s going on, we can’t understand.”

Malik said he has a hard time understanding why Mow is currently at a Port Commission conference in Maui with a felony charge hanging over him.

“If I would be in this position when I know there is a serious issue I would not be too happy to go,” Malik said.

Ahmad said his father was a retired widower living in his native Pakistan before he decided to move to Hayward four years ago to join his older son in California.

The 40-year-old Ahmad, who was living in England, said he subsequently joined his father and older brother in Hayward. Ahmad said he and his father later moved to Stockton and enjoyed living across the street from their mosque.

“He worked for the railroad (in Pakistan) as an accountant,” Ahmad said of his father. “All his life, he was very religious. He spent most of his time in the mosque. He would teach younger people about the Koran.”

Malik said he continues to feel the void left by Butt.

“When you’re used to seeing somebody five days a week in the mosque ... he’s always here,” Malik said. “Now he’s not here. You really miss him. You could say he was the heart of the mosque.”