The Alameda County district attorney has reduced charges against two men accused in the March 2021 killing of a 75-year-old man in Oakland.
The announcement came just before the trial began, and it has reopened old wounds for members of the local Asian community.
“In this case, we are saying we are very concerned that they will be paroled and coming out and hurting people again,” said community activist Carl Chan.
The Mercury News reported DA Pamela Price’s office, minutes before the start of trial Monday, dropped special circumstance allegations that, upon conviction, would have meant longer prison terms for both defendants.
Teaunte Bailey, 28, and 59-year-old Demetrius Britton, are charged with the robbery and killing of 75-year-old Pak Ho in March 2021 while Ho was out for his morning walk in the Adams Point neighborhood of Oakland. It was all caught on surveillance video, and prosecutors say they also have GPS from Bailey’s ankle monitor, which puts him at the crime scene.
Chan is an organizer of the effort to recall Price.
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“I think for many of us, and especially for the elderly, when they look at the video, they may be thinking, ‘Could that be me? Could that be anyone I know?’” said Chan.
Both defendants have long criminal records. But those who have followed Price over the years, especially during her successful campaign for DA, should not be surprised by Monday’s events.
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She ran on a progressive platform aimed at reforming a judicial system she says is rooted in racism.
“The problems with mass incarceration enhancements are at the heart of mass incarceration, and those of us who have studied this problem, and the remedies for it, understand that the use of enhancements has devastated Black and brown communities,” said Price.
The DA also made headlines in June when she removed special circumstance allegations against two suspects charged with murder in the 2021 killing of toddler Jasper Wu on a freeway in Oakland, eliminating life without parole for those defendants.
Also, shortly after she took office in January, Price removed special circumstance allegations for David Misch in the 1988 killing of Michaela Garecht – one of the Bay Area’s most infamous cold cases.
One of Price's former prosecutors recently spoke to NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit about that decision.
“The jury isn’t going to hear that there was a kidnapping involved, the jury isnt going to hear there was an attempted rape, the jury isn’t going to hear that he committed murder after being convicted of a prior,” said Colleen McMahon.
After the Investigative Unit’s report, the district attorney's office put out a news release saying in part, “Our office has every confidence that they will be able to successfully try the case and that defendant Misch will be convicted and spend the rest of his days in prison.”
Even with the enhancements dropped in the Ho murder case, the two defendants could still face life in prison but with the possibility of parole.
Both men have pleaded not guilty.
NBC Bay Area reached out to the district attorney’s office about Monday’s events and has not heard back.
