Lawyer’s murder trial opens with 2 versions of fatal melee

A former San Francisco tenants’ rights attorney either aggressively attacked, robbed and killed a man outside a bar near the Tenderloin, or he was defending himself and accidentally stabbed the 61-year-old during a drunken 2015 clash.

Those were the conflicting arguments presented Thursday during opening statements in the murder trial of Carlos Argueta — a twisting legal saga that has played out for years and recently prompted Public Defender Jeff Adachi to take on the case himself.

The gallery in Judge Samuel Feng’s courtroom was overflowing with family members of the 34-year-old defendant, along with prosecutors and defense attorneys observing the complex case and recent pretrial jousting from competing sides.

The district attorney’s office has charged Argueta with murder and robbery. He’s since been released on bail, and he said nothing Thursday as he sat in court wearing a suit and tie.

Adachi and Assistant District Attorney Adam Maldonado each pointed to the abundance of available security video — some of it unclear or incomplete — to argue their theories about why Argueta stabbed James Thomas through the heart on Sept. 3, 2015.

“The defendant took a life after a heavy night of drinking,” Maldonado said. “He took a life after robbing the victim of his bag. He took a life after pursuing him with a knife, and he took a life when he caused his knife to puncture the chest cavity of a 61-yearold man.”

But Adachi said the tragic episode happened out of self-defense. His client, who could be mistaken for a “tech bro,” was unfamiliar with the Tenderloin “and the dangers that were posed there,” he said.

“He didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” Adachi said. “He acted in order to defend himself and his friend.”

The night’s events began when Argueta met several colleagues for happy hour around 5 p.m. at the Showdown bar on Sixth Street around the corner from his office at the Eviction Defense Collaborative on Market Street.

In video from inside the bar, Argueta and law intern Pascal Krummenacher were seen drinking numerous shots of liquor over several hours and becoming visibly intoxicated.

Argueta, Adachi said, had 10 shots, while Krummenacher, a Swiss national who had just finished his internship, had 16 drinks. Adachi admitted that Argueta “had a buzz on,” but said he was not overly drunk.

Argueta and two people inside the bar eventually had to drag the semiconscious Krummenacher outside, where the two men gathered themselves, and after 10 minutes began walking north toward Market, where Thomas was sitting.

“There are two realities happening,” Maldonado said. “Mr. Argueta was inside the bar drinking shot, after shot, after shot, after shot, after shot of liquor, while Mr. Thomas was sitting on the corner, making a living selling merchandise on the street.”

As Argueta and Krummenacher approached Thomas, Maldonado said the men grabbed Thomas’ red bag, and all three got into a tug-of-war, bumping against a car parked along Sixth Street.

During the fracas, Argueta lost his black messenger bag, prosecutors said, and eventually gave up on the tug-ofwar.

Adachi, though, said Argueta was simply trying to help Krummenacher, who grabbed the red bag because he thought it was his. Krummenacher eventually broke away from the fracas with the red backpack, only to get smashed on the head by a man with a skateboard, Adachi said.

Thomas recovered his bag and pursued the two men down Market Street with three others. Argueta was shown on video pulling a knife, causing the group to retreat. He then followed them back to the site of the first run-in, knife in hand.

“Carlos then decides to go back and get his bag — probably one of the worst decisions of his life,” Adachi said. “But going back to reclaim your property doesn’t make you guilty of murder.”

Obstructed security video showed Argueta approaching Thomas on Sixth Street before the two face each other.

Thomas then threw a punch while Argueta plunged his knife into the man’s chest, Maldonado said. Surveillance video showed Thomas stumbling backward with Argueta continuing to pursue him with the knife. Argueta then retreated into the nearby Tu Lan restaurant as a crowd began to gather.

Stabbed and bleeding profusely, Thomas took a knee before he eventually fell over with a fatal knife wound in the heart.

Police took Argueta into custody at the scene, and later documented an abrasion on his left ear. Adachi said the injury was from Thomas, who had many silver rings on his hand when he landed the blow.

Adachi argued that Argueta accidentally stabbed Thomas while trying to push him away.

Thursday’s opening came after years of legal proceedings that continued until the weeks leading up to the trial.

A judge previously tossed the case in 2016, saying the evidence was insufficient to prove murder. That prompted the previous prosecutor in the case, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Ganz, to take the case to a grand jury to secure an indictment.

But Adachi has alleged that Ganz committed misconduct by not presenting exculpatory evidence to the grand jury. Adachi pointed to a 2013 Solano County case where Ganz was accused of misconduct.

The State Bar Court has since recommended Ganz be suspended for the Solano County matter, and he has not been prosecuting cases since. Maldonado was later assigned to the case.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky