A critical court hearing is set to take place in Contra Costa County Friday involving several officers at the center of the Antioch police racist text messaging scandal.
Fifteen of the officers have been subpoenaed to testify but the police department says five of them can’t attend due to “industrial injuries.”
Now, the police Chief Steven Ford is being subpoenaed to testify at a court hearing regarding violations of the racial justice act by the Antioch Police Department.
The act became law in 2022 and allows defendants to seek legal relief if they can prove racial bias in an arrest or judicial investigation.
The case being discussed Friday involves four Black defendants accused of murder. All four were also referenced in a series of racist text messages amongst Antioch police officers.
Defense lawyer Carmela Caramagno says the police department notified the county that five of the officers can’t attend due to “industrial injuries.” However, the subpoenas did not detail the officers injuries and it’s why lawyers ultimately subpoenaed the chief.
“The five responses certainly caused me to look more closely at the Antioch Police Department chief of police,” said Caramagno.
Matthew Martinez represents one of the other defendants and said the “industrial injuries” response is raising a lot of questions heading into Friday.
"I really don’t know what that means,” said Martinez. “I really, am skeptical that that's legitimate excuse for them being unavailable.”
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Caramagno says a majority of the remaining subpoenas have been electronically served with one subpoena being personally served to officer Eric Rombough.
She’s hopeful that several officers will appear in court on Friday but is concerned about a request from the district attorney’s office saying witnesses aren’t needed to prove violations of the racial justice act.
“The only way for them to have that opportunity is for us to bring those officers into court, put them on the stand and have them account for themselves,” said Caramagno.
A spokesperson for the DA responded by saying the court will ultimately make a determination of its request on Friday.
NBC Bay Area reached out to the police chief for a comment, but he’s not providing one at this time.
