A court hearing took place to determine whether several police officers from Northern California who had been exchanging racist text messages violated a state law designed to eradicate racism from the criminal justice system. The hearing concluded on Friday without any of the officers taking the stand to answer questions about the scandal that has stirred controversy in the San Francisco Bay Area city.
Defense attorneys for four men charged with murder and attempted murder in a 2021 shooting had summoned the Antioch police officers to testify about heavily redacted text messages that the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office made public in April. The lawyers were expected to assert that their clients, who were mentioned in the text messages, had been unfairly targeted based on their race.
While most of Friday’s hearing was dedicated to ruling on motions and not on evidence, none of the officers testified. The hearing is scheduled to resume in late August, putting the underlying criminal case on hold.
A total of 17 Antioch police officers have been named for sending texts that discuss falsifying evidence and assaulting suspects, make racist and homophobic remarks, or use sexually explicit language. Most of the messages were sent in 2020 and 2021 and extend far beyond the case under discussion in court.
The serving Antioch Police Chief, Steven Ford, was also subpoenaed to testify. However, Judge David Goldstein ruled that Ford did not need to appear as his testimony was not relevant to determining whether officers showed racial bias or animus.
The defense plans to question Ford about the internal workings of the department, as well as about his approval of declarations stating that five officers had suffered an “industrial injury” and could not appear in court.
The lawyers representing the four men charged with murder and attempted murder in a March 2021 drive-by shooting allege that the shooting was gang-related. The Racial Justice Act allows defendants to petition the court for relief, and if a violation is found, a judge could dismiss enhancements to charges or reduce charges.
The police department at the center of the scandal serves a racially diverse city of 115,000 residents located about 45 miles east of San Francisco. The city of Antioch is currently facing a federal civil rights lawsuit over the text messages, and the state attorney general’s office has initiated a civil rights investigation into the police department.