Trulove v. City and County of San Francisco et al.

Northern District

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers

Plaintiff's Lawyers: Kate L. Chatfield, Alexander B. Reisman, Law Offices of Chatfield & Reisman; Anna Benvenutti Hoffmann, Nick J. Brustin, Meghna Philip, Neufeld, Scheck & Brustin LLP

Defense Lawyers: Margaret W. Baumgartner, Renee E. Rosenblit, Kelly M. Collins, San Francisco city attorney's office

In 2007, Jamal Rashid Trulove was sentenced to 50 years for the murder of Seo Kuka. His conviction was reversed in 2014 by a state appellate panel based on improper prosecution representations to the jury. A year later, Trulove was acquitted at a second jury trial.

He then sued various San Francisco police officers and the city on claims that officers had coerced a key witness to identify him. In April 2018, a federal jury awarded Trulove $10 million. Trulove v. City and County of San Francisco et al., 16-00050 (N.D. Cal., filed Jan. 5, 2016).

Trulove's lead attorney at the civil trial, Nick J. Brustin of Neufeld, Scheck & Brustin LLP, successfully argued that police framed him by showing a witness a single photo of Trulove rather than following standard police practice of presenting a photo spread of a variety of individuals.

Brustin credited the criminal defense lawyers who won his acquittal at the retrial, Kate L. Chatfield and Alexander B. Reisman of the Law Offices of Chatfield & Reisman. "They were the heroes. What a blessing that they were in the courthouse the day the trial judge was looking for new representation for Mr. Trulove for the retrial," said Brustin, who is based in New York and does civil rights cases around the U.S.

Kate L. Chatfield

Chatfield is now policy director at Re:store Justice, a criminal justice reform nonprofit based in Oakland and Los Angeles. "This was our last criminal case," Chatfield said of herself and law partner Reisman, who is now retired.

"After Jamal's acquittal, we realized we had never done a wrongful conviction civil case, and we reached out to Nick," she said. "We were so lucky to have gotten involved here. Jamal's case had been interesting to me for years. We had long heard on the street that the police had the wrong guy."

A spokesman for City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera did not return a message seeking comment. Defense lawyer Margaret W. Baumgartner, a deputy city attorney, could not be reached. In a post-trial motion for a new trial, Baumgartner argued that the evidence did not support the jury's finding that defendants fabricated evidence.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied the motion. The city contested the judgment at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Brustin said Trulove should never have been charged. "There was misconduct in every aspect of the investigation. We really expected things would be somewhat different in San Francisco, but the city attorney ignored the misconduct. They put on a despicable defense, claiming nothing had been done wrong. We had 'em from the start."

A $4 million attorney fee petition is pending, Brustin said.

"After we won the retrial, jurors were crying in the courtroom," Chatfield said. "And five of them came to our victory party."

-- John Roemer