Those opinions were not disclosed to the defense \u2014 a violation of the district attorney\u2019s discovery obligations, both sides now agree.<\/p>\n
Fletcher\u2019s defense filed a voluminous motion to dismiss in August, which was heard on Friday.<\/p>\n
Three former employees under Price invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at the start of the hearing, including Zachary Linowitz, who previously oversaw the case, and James Conger, the former head of the unit in charge of cases against public officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stand before you in a position where I\u2019ve never stood before,\u201d Deputy District Attorney Casey Bates told the judge, \u201cbringing forth what appears to be misconduct of others in my office. I\u2019ve never been in a court where colleagues of mine asserted their right against self-incrimination. But that happened not just once, but three times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referring to one of the suppressed expert opinions, Bates said, \u201cYour honor, I believe they received information they didn\u2019t want to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know where you get that,\u201d Reardon said, repeatedly indicating that he was unconvinced that former prosecutors had committed any so-called Brady violations for failing to disclose evidence to the defense.<\/p>\n Reardon grilled Bates on whether the district attorney\u2019s office agreed with the defense on any of three reasons to dismiss the case: due process violations, gross governmental misconduct or \u201cin the interests of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI agree that there has been outrageous prosecutorial misconduct,\u201d Bates said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it rises to the level of dismissal. I think that\u2019s for the court to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n The judge became more terse when Bates declined to state a clearer position. \u201cYou won\u2019t answer the court\u2019s question, so I think I\u2019m done with you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Taylor\u2019s mother and grandmother said after the hearing that they were grateful for the judge.<\/p>\n \u201cThe judge did the DA\u2019s job,\u201d Taylor\u2019s grandmother, Addie Kitchen, said. \u201cThe judge had to step up and do his damn job.\u201d<\/p>\n Reardon ultimately found there had been no Brady violation and ruled that any misconduct did not warrant dismissing the case. He also declined to use his discretion to end the prosecution.<\/p>\n \u201cI want 12 citizens of the county to opine,\u201d he said. \u201cThey may just have a difficult case, and they may just have to try it.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor\u2019s family and civil rights groups, including the Oakland-based Anti Police-Terror Project, accused the District Attorney\u2019s Office of \u201cnot seeking justice for Steven Taylor but \u2026 instead protecting the officer who killed him\u201d in the days leading up to the hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no confidence in Mr. Bates,\u201d Kitchen said. \u201cI\u2019m glad that the judge felt the need to present the case to a jury. Let the jury make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n KQED\u2019s <\/em>Katie DeBenedetti<\/em><\/a> contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.kqed.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/09\/250912-JASON-FLETCHER-HEARING-MD-05-KQED.jpg\")
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