Jul 30, 2008 6:18 pm US/Pacific
SF Triple-Murder Case Sparks Immigration Protests
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS / BCN) ―
As immigration protests raged outside, a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that authorities will not be prevented from publicly discussing a suspected gang-related shooting in the city's Excelsior District last month that left a father and two of his sons dead.
Judge Lucy McCabe denied a motion by attorneys for the murder suspect, 21-year-old Edwin Ramos, who were trying to impose a gag order in the case.
McCabe said there had been an "insufficient showing" that Ramos' right to a fair trial was threatened by police and prosecutors disseminating information about the shootings.
"Much of the information is inherently newsworthy, and the public is entitled to know," McCabe said.
The ruling came two days after the head of San Francisco's homicide unit, Lt. Mike Stasko, discussed the case at a public hearing held by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee.
Stasko told members of the committee that the killings were not the result of road rage, as police spokesmen had previously alluded, but were a case of the victims having been mistakenly identified as gang members.
Anthony "Tony" Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, were found shot to death in their car the afternoon of June 22.
Three days later, police arrested Ramos, of El Sobrante, whom authorities believe to be a member of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, a street gang with El Salvadoran origins.
Prosecutors have charged Ramos, who is being held on a no-bail status, with three counts of murder and multiple special allegations, including that the crime was committed in furtherance of a criminal street gang. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Ramos was reportedly shielded from previous encounters with the law as part of San Francisco's sanctuary city ordinance. After facing felony charges, the immigrant was apparently protected from possible deportation by city officials.
Protestors and counter-protestors gathered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall Wednesday to make their opinions on immigration heard.
The anti-illegal immigrant group the Minutemen Project first came to speak out against the city's sanctuary law, but they were greeted by a much larger group of counter-protestors. Jim Gilchrist, leader of the Southern California-based Minuteman Project, called for Mayor Newsom's resignation.
The counter-protestors outnumbered the Minutemen 20 to one, and were so loud that it was impossible for the Minutemen to do much of anything, except stand on the steps with their banners and flags.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom also spoke Wednesday, fiercely defending the city's status as a sanctuary offering protection for illegal immigrants, and accusing critics of misunderstanding both the law and the intent behind it.
Newsom said the goal of San Francisco's sanctuary ordinance, enacted in 1989, is to promote public safety.
According to Newsom, the law was intended to allow undocumented immigrants to feel they can safely report crimes in their neighborhood, or bring their sick children to the hospital, without the threat of deportation.
Newsom also said the ordinance's establishment was "directly connected with the failure of the federal government" to address immigration reform "in a thoughtful and comprehensive manner."
"I believe in its principles and its purpose," Newsom declared, adding that several other major U.S. cities, including Oakland, San Jose, New York City, Detroit and Chicago, also are sanctuary cities yet have not provoked the ire of groups like the Minuteman Project in the same way that San Francisco has.
Also, Wednesday, Ramos' attorney Robert Amparan said outside the courtroom that Ramos is not an illegal alien, is not an active gang member, and was not responsible for the killings.
"How is it a benefit to the memory of these three men to try to convict the wrong person?" Amparan asked reporters.
Amparan protested Wednesday that police and prosecutors had been trying to taint a potential jury pool against his client by "disseminating false information" about Ramos, including information about his immigration status and prior juvenile record, as well as photographs of Ramos that appeared in media reports.
Assistant District Attorney George Butterworth responded that authorities "are not providing information on the sly" to try to poison the defense case. Amparan's allegation that police provided photos of Ramos to media is "completely unsupported and erroneous," he said.
Ramos is scheduled to return to court Aug. 28 for a status hearing.
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