Decision delayed in landmark bail case
Ruling on release, with potential statewide effect, gets pushed back
A much-anticipated bail hearing for a San Francisco robbery defendant at the center of a landmark legal ruling came to an abrupt halt Tuesday when prosecutors said the victim in the case had agreed to come forward.
Kenneth Humphrey, 64, will stay jailed until at least Thursday, when his alleged victim is scheduled to testify for the prosecution at a new hearing.
Tuesday’s curveball is the latest in a months-long battle between attorneys over whether Humphrey should be released before his trial. In January, the First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that his $350,000 bail was excessive because he could not afford to pay it.
The ruling upended the state’s cash bail system. Judges must now consider a defendant’s ability to pay when setting bail.
Since high bail has largely been eliminated as a tool to keep defendants jailed, prosecutors in San Francisco have been holding special hearings to ask judges to either order no bail or grant defendants conditional release, similar to probation.
The San Francisco district attorney’s office asked that Humphrey be held without bail, arguing that he is a threat to public safety and that his lengthy criminal record makes it likely he will re-offend.
“We have an obligation to the public and we firmly believe that public safety needs
“This is just a last-ditch effort to try to do away with what we believe is going to be a successful bail hearing.”
Anita Nabha,
S.F. Deputy Public Defender
to be a consideration that the court is able to take into account when making very important decisions about who is released pre-trial,” said Max Szabo, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.
Deputy Public Defender Anita Nabha, who represents Humphrey, said her client poses no threat and, if released, has agreed to sign up for ankle monitoring through the San Francisco Sheriff ’s Department and enroll in a live-in drug treatment program for seniors.
She blasted the district attorney’s decision to call on the victim in the case.
“This is just a lastditch effort to try to do away with what we believe is going to be a successful bail hearing,” Nabha said outside court.
Humphrey is a retired shipyard worker and has been jailed since his May 2017 arrest on robbery, elder abuse and burglary charges.
He has a long history of drug addiction and criminal activity dating to the 1980s. His most recent arrest came after he allegedly followed a 79-year-old neighbor into the man’s apartment, threatened to put a pillowcase over the man’s head, demanded money and stole a bottle of cologne. Before that incident, his last previous charge was in 2005.
Humphrey’s case comes amid several statewide bail reform efforts, including in the legislature and in the federal courts.
Following the appeals court ruling, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón asked the California Supreme Court to review Humphrey’s case. State Attorney General Xavier Becerra in February decided against appealing the decision.
Gascón said the ruling has hampered his ability to protect the public from defendants who don’t meet the state constitution’s strict standard of no bail.