Hearing on Breed’s incarcerated brother delayed
A Monday hearing to determine whether Mayor London Breed’s incarcerated brother qualifies for a new, lesser sentence has been delayed until August, meaning the case will now fall under the authority of Breed’s impending pick for district attorney.
Napoleon Brown, Breed’s older brother, has served about half of a 44-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter, armed robbery and carjacking tied to a 2000 crime spree that resulted in the death of his girlfriend. Brown’s attorney, Marc Zilversmit, said his client should be eligible for a shortened prison term because of new state laws.
Zilversmit is asking a judge to grant a motion for a resentencing, arguing that prosecutors can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Brown is guilty of murder under the current definition.
“There’s going to be an argument about what his sentence should be, and I’m hopeful that it’s less than the 44 years that he received last time,” Zilversmit said.
The hearing’s continuance comes as Breed weighs candidates for the next San Francisco top prosecutor, two weeks after voters recalled progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Boudin’s policies, intended to shrink overcrowded prison populations, were often at odds with the mayor’s more moderate views on criminal justice, and Breed is expected to choose a prosecutor who will crack down more on drugs and other crimes.
Because the next district attorney will be selected by Breed rather than elected by voters, the appointment could create a conflict of interest and require the next district attorney recusal from the case. Voters will decide in November who finishes the term through November 2023.
Breed did not publicly take a position on the recall election, but has openly criticized Boudin’s policies and called for a harder line on crime.
Zilversmit argues that Brown is eligible for resentencing under a landmark 2019 California measure, SB1437, that restricted the reach of the state’s felony murder statute. California courts have ruled that a person convicted of manslaughter can qualify for relief as well.
Boudin’s office, like that of his predecessors, is contesting Brown’s bid for a new sentence. Brown filed the initial motion for resentencing in early 2019, before Boudin took office; the case has been battled in the courts ever since.
Prosecutors said Brown and a second man went into Johnny Rockets diner in the Marina late one night in June 2000, robbed the staff at gunpoint and then fled over the nearby bridge, with Lenties White — a 25-year-old mother of two children — driving the getaway car.
According to records, the white Ford Escort pulled into a coned-off buffer lane on the bridge before White either fell from or was pushed from the vehicle. A plainclothes officer had been tailing the robbers in an unmarked car, and he pulled over, too. One of the men in the getaway car took White’s place at the wheel and drove off, leaving her on the bridge.
Court summaries of the case say investigators testified that White rolled into oncoming traffic, where she was fatally struck by a drunken driver. But the defense contends she was still in the buffer lane when she was hit, and that the plainclothes officer’s orders that she stay on the ground also lessened Brown’s culpability.
Kate Chatfield, Boudin’s chief of staff, said that there were “viable murder theories” that prosecutors believe disqualify Brown for resentencing under the new law. Further, she said, the bulk of Brown’s sentence is for the carjacking and robbery convictions, meaning that any decision on the manslaughter charge wouldn’t impact his remaining time to serve.
Zilversmit said the judge could consider a slate of reform laws enacted in California that could benefit Brown, and impose a new sentence as short as 22 years.
“It’s my belief that the presumptions in this case are in favor of lower sentences,” he said.
Breed has pushed for years for her brother’s freedom, and her powerful political position has opened up scrutiny on her advocacy. In a statement from earlier this month, Breed’s office said the mayor “has continued to support her brother throughout his resentencing process, strictly in her personal capacity as his sister.”
Brown is currently eligible for parole in 2032. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 15.