Victims of crime in San Francisco criticize lawsuits against plaintiffs

Victims of domestic violence, fatal traffic crimes and other crimes expressed dismay Thursday that cases against dozens of suspects were dropped due to a backlog of cases and beyond legal deadlines.

A total of 70 cases were dismissed by the San Francisco Superior Court after an appeals court ruled in July that delaying trials violated defendants' constitutional rights. Among the dismissed cases was a motorist who faced two counts of negligent homicide for causing an accident that killed a mother and her daughter who were traveling to the city from Florida.

“I am a victim who survived, if only in some capacity. I lost my wife and my daughter,” he said in a statement read by a victim advocate. “I am the one who has little more than the grief, the anger, the images, the memories. But I know I am not the only one. We, the victims of these crimes, are being denied our moment of accountability, our day in court where we can hold the defendant accountable for his wrongdoing and hear him speak,” Henderson said.