PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER --I have written about Stephen’s case extensively. After a night of drinking, celebrating his impending graduation from SF State, he went into the wrong apartment and was gunned down. The gunman was arrested but, the laws in California permit people to shoot to kill if an intruder enters their home.
Stephen was not an intruder looking to do harm to another tenant. He was a smallish kid with a big smile. Didn’t matter. A naturalized citizen. Didn’t matter. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon doesn’t like to prosecute cases he can’t win. He would not challenge the so-called Castle Doctrine and didn’t charge the shooter, who killed the wrong guy. Gascon has a reputation for going after the low-hanging fruit, releasing minor drug criminals, expunging records of pot arrests, and the like. After three days in city jail, Stephen’s gunman was set free.