Judge tosses motion to remove DA Pamela Price from former San Leandro officer’s manslaughter case
A judge on Friday rejected a former San Leandro police officer’s bid to remove Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price from overseeing his prosecution, ruling out the possibility of the state’s attorney general taking over the case.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon’s ruling comes about two weeks after the attorneys for the former officer, Jason Fletcher, raised concerns about the county’s new top prosecutor, including that Price had “consistently, publicly proclaimed animosity against the police profession in its entirety.”
Fletcher was charged three years ago with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Steven Taylor, 33. The case was originally filed by Price’s predecessor, Nancy O’Malley, marking the first time in more than a decade that a law enforcement officer had faced criminal prosecution in the death of a civilian.
On Friday, Taylor’s grandmother, Addie Kitchen, praised Reardon’s decision.
“This was a victory for us,” Kitchen said, outside the Oakland courtroom. “That’s the best thing that’s ever happened. Now we’re just waiting for a court date.”
“We still have a long way to go,” she added. “This is just one step.”
Authorities say Fletcher acted unreasonably when he was called on April 18, 2020, about a possible shoplifter holding a baseball bat inside a Walmart in San Leandro. When Fletcher arrived, he approached Taylor and tried to grab the bat he was holding, authorities say. When Taylor pulled away, Fletcher drew his firearm and told him to drop the bat before firing the gun twice at Taylor, killing him, according to court documents.
The entire encounter lasted no more than 40 seconds — during which “Mr. Taylor posed no threat of imminent deadly force or serious bodily injury to defendant Fletcher or anyone else in the store,” according to prosecutors working under O’Malley’s supervision.
Fletcher’s attorney, Michael Rains, filed a motion in late April arguing that the former officer stood no chance of getting a fair trial if prosecuted by Price’s office.
He pointed to several social media postings by Price, a longtime civil rights attorney, over the past several years, including one in 2019 that said police departments “attract racist white people who want to criminalize, control, jail and marginalize black people today.” Rains also claimed Price accepted a $5,000 donation after she won the November election from members of the legal team suing Fletcher and the city of San Leandro on behalf of Taylor’s family.
After the ruling, Rains said he planned to appeal the decision, amid concerns Price would “pull out every sleazy trick she can pull out to try get him convicted at any cost.”
“It’s clearly judicial error,” Rains said.