Dozens of SF criminal cases from DUIs to domestic abuse thrown out due to COVID backlog

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- For Melissa Bonilla, dealing with the San Francisco court system has been anything but ideal.

Two years ago Bonilla, who is the victim of alleged domestic abuse, filed a lawsuit against her abuser.

On Thursday, that lawsuit, along with about 70 other cases, was dismissed without ever going to trial.

The reason is a recent court ruling in the case of Mendoza vs. The Superior Court of California, in which the suspect argued her constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated by COVID delays. The ruling says the city's Superior Court has to try cases within a certain time frame.

"Very frustrated, because it's two years waiting for this and then, one day, no more. I'm in shock now," Bonilla said.

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ABC7 News talked to Anastacio White who went to court to support a victim and was upset about these dismissals.

"It could be a bank robber, raper, child molester, no matter what, you're just dismissed. That's not right," White said.

In court, a letter was read by a family member of a mother and her daughter who were fatally struck by a taxicab in 2022.

He said victims are being denied their day in court, and accountability of the suspect.

The cases dismissed Thursday included charges for DUIs, sexual battery and deadly driving.

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The San Francisco District Attorney's Office blasted the court in a statement to ABC7 News.

It reads in part:

"The Superior Court's Order today, unlike courts in other counties in the post-COVID era that have worked through case backlogs, has unfortunately stripped victims of justice and robbed defendants of their rights."

The San Francisco Public Defenders Office -- who represented many of those accused of the crimes in these cases -- says while they have sympathy for the victims of these alleged crimes, the blame lies with the Superior Court and the DA.

"Our clients have a constitutional right, just like the victims do. And it was our clients' rights that were violated time and time and time and time and time again," said the office's Jacque Wilson.

The Superior Court has faced delays in trying cases by their legal deadlines for years.

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They often pointed to the backlog caused by COVID as a primary reason why.

"This is really a situation that the courts themselves placed themselves into," said Prithika Balakrishnan.

Balakrishnan is a professor at UC Law SF.

She said the city's court system is the only one in the Bay Area facing these problems.

"San Francisco has not attempted to recover from COVID and to push these cases to trial, despite there being open courtrooms, or even civil cases that were taking up court space," Balakrishnan said.

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As for Bonilla, she says she doesn't know what will come next for her.

"It's very bad because many victims of domestic violence, we need representation and we need support because we feel like it's not correct," Bonilla said.

In the meantime, though, she says she feels let down by the system, a system meant to try and protect her.

"Regrettably, the system has now failed countless victims of crime who will not see justice done. For those cases that do not fall under Mendoza and for every case that we bring forward, we will do everything we can to ensure that justice is done," the DA's office said.