Petrelis Files

SF Daily:
No Charges in Gay Abuse Case

A front-page story ran yesterday in the SF Daily paper about the district attorney declining to bring charges in a gay domestic violence case, but because the newspaper posts no content on its web site, the story is not available online.

Nevertheless, key excerpts from the article are shared here.

Comments and rebuttals from the perpetrator, Julius Turman, have not been omitted by me.

Unfortunately, the SF Daily reporter didn't include any response or quote from Turman, which I believe should have been integral to the story, as balanced journalism demands. Heck, there wasn't anything in the article indicating the paper had even tried to reach Turman.

Needless to say, I hope Turman is soon given the opportunity in other news accounts to present his side of things, and that a debate ensues in the gay community about the DA's handling of this case and other crimes where gays are the victim.

San Francisco Daily

December 14, 2007

No Charges in Gay Abuse Case

by Richard Cole

A man who was choked and beaten bloody in a domestic violence incident is accusing District Attorney Kamala Harris of quashing the case because his attacker was a political friend who now heads the powerful Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.

The suspect, Lawrence Turman, 42, was arrested the night of the attack after several witnesses heard victim Philip Horne, 40, screaming and called the police.

Police found Horne with a "bloody nose and blood on the left side of his face," as well as blood in his mouth and on his teeth, according to the police report.

But shortly afterward Turman co-hosted a charity auction with Harris--who knew about the incident, Horne said--and was then elected co-chairman of the Toklas club.

The district attorney's office later declined to prosecute. [...]

Horne eventually filed a civil suit against Turman, who settled out of court without giving a deposition, Horne said.

Harris' spokeswoman Bilen Mesfin denied that her boss had involved herself in dropping the case.

"The head of the domestic violence division was involved in that," Mesfin said. "Based on the information I have so far, this was a case that could not be prosecuted on the evidence."

The incident occurred on January 1, 2006 at the home the two men had shared for six months at 377 Hermann Street near Duboce Park. The two had been arguing and were about to break up. Horne was picking up some items from the house when Turman arrived and the two argued, he said. [...]

"The next thing I know, his hands are around my neck and he was strangling me in the hallway," said Horne. "Then all of a sudden he starts punching me in the face . . . there was blood all over the hallway."

Turman apologized, then became angry again when Horne tried to call a friend to take him to the hospital. [...]

Turman grabbed the cell phone, and Horne ran toward the front door to escape. Turman tackled him just as he reached the door. [...]

At least two neighbors heard his screams, which were recorded in the background during one of their 911 calls.

Police arrived and interviewed the two men, then arrested Turman for domestic battery. He was bailed out a few hours later. [...]

"Turman told me he had a conversation with you about the decision not to prosecute," Horne wrote in a letter to Harris. "You responded that you did not want to see Turman prosecuted because he is a friend of your but that [you] did not speak directly to the charging District Attorney about the decision." [...]

The only communication Horne ever had from prosecutors about the decision was a short note saying they did not have to explain it, Horne said.