Crime & Safety
Ex-Fire Commissioner A No-Show At Court Hearing
A homeless man accused of assaulting Don Carmignani was released from jail following the court proceedings.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A former San Francisco fire commissioner failed to appear in court for a preliminary hearing Thursday for his alleged attacker despite a subpoena issued by the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
It marks the second absence by ex-Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani, who was supposed to appear at the hearing Wednesday for 24-year-old Garrett Doty, an unhoused man facing felony charges for allegedly hitting Carmignani with a metal rod on April 5 in the city's Marina District.
Doty was released following Thursday's hearing.
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Prosecutor Michele Brass told the court that Carmignani could not attend due to the "severity of his injuries." Carmignani was hospitalized with a serious head injury after the alleged attack.
Prosecutors said they would still pursue charges against Doty despite new evidence that possibly connects Carmignani with a series of attacks against unhoused people.
The San Francisco Public Defender's Office said it received eight police reports and video footage Tuesday from the District Attorney's Office of an unidentified man spraying bear and pepper spray at unhoused people. The suspect allegedly matches the physical description of Carmignani.
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Prosecutors said Carmignani has yet to accept an interview with the San Francisco Police Department.
Superior Court Judge Loretta Giorgi released Doty with minimum supervision with a once-a-week phone check-in and a stay-away order from Carmignani and Magnolia Street in the Marina District. The preliminary hearing was rescheduled to May 23.
"We shall see what the future holds," Giorgi said in court.
Kleigh Hathaway, Doty's defense attorney from the Public Defender's Office, said she does not "foresee the complaining witness ever giving a statement or coming into court."
"For Mr. Carmignani to get on the stand in this case would be opening himself up to making a statement of incriminating nature that potentially could result in a prosecution of him," Hathaway said after Thursday's hearing.
The District Attorney's Office was not immediately available for comment.
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