Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A San Francisco woman was acquitted by a jury of stabbing a man she said stalked her and sent revenge porn to her teenage children, the city's public defender's office said.
The woman, identified only as Maria, was accused of slicing the man in the arm after he showed up at her workplace in October 2021.
The pair had briefly dated three years before, and the man threatened to send a video of their sexual encounter to her family members unless she went with him to his apartment, the release said.
At the apartment, the man allegedly grabbed Maria from behind, leading her to believe he was going to rape her.
Desperate to get away, Maria grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the man in the arm, the release said.
During the trial, Maria's children testified about receiving the video from a man they had never met and her co-workers testified that the man regularly stalked her at work.
"Even though Maria stayed on scene and told police she was acting in self-defense, police arrested her and prosecutors charged her with two counts of felony assault," the Office of the Public Defender said in a Monday release following her acquittal.
Deputy Public Defender Will Helvestine, who represented Maria, blasted the district attorney's office for pursuing the case.
"This egregious prosecution holds up an ugly mirror to the criminal justice system. It shows how police can refuse to meaningfully investigate certain leads, how prosecutors pursue cases based on half-truths in police reports, and how people who are clearly victims can end up being wrongly criminalized," Helvestine said in a statement.
The San Francisco District Attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request from The Messenger for comment.