Perhaps no crime defined former San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin’s path to recall better than the tragic deaths of two women at the hands of a lifelong felon. On Dec. 31, 2020, at approximately 4 p.m., officers responded to a vehicle collision that struck two pedestrians, 60-year-old Elizabeth Platt and 27-year-old Hanako Abe, at Second and Mission streets. Officers arrived on scene and immediately rendered aid to the victims and summoned medics to the scene. One of the victims was pronounced deceased; the second victim was transported to the hospital but later succumbed to her injuries. The driver of the vehicle immediately fled on foot, but officers took chase and arrested Troy McAlister, a 45-year-old man from San Francisco currently on parole for robbery, who had committed a burglary just prior to the fatal hit and run.
McAlister was booked for driving a stolen vehicle, possession of stolen property, running a red light, speeding, hit and run, manslaughter, burglary, resisting arrest, driving under the influence (DUI) of drugs, DUI causing injury, possession of methamphetamines, possession of methamphetamines for sale, convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a large capacity firearm magazine. And, it turns out, McAlister was the same man arrested June 28, Aug. 20, Oct. 15, Nov. 6, and Dec. 20, for which he served a combined 11 days in jail.
During the Nov. 6 incident, San Francisco State University Police answered a call about a man breaking into a parked car at 800 Font Street. The witness identified the suspect and officers detained him. The suspect admitted to breaking into the vehicle and apologized. Officers asked why he was limping, and the suspect responded that he had been shot during an argument a few months ago at Park Merced. Officers also noted the man was wearing a GPS ankle monitor. After arresting him for felony auto burglary and possession of burglary tools, officers checked the suspect’s record and were so alarmed that they included a note in their report for the district attorney that stated, “This suspect is dangerous. He has 73 felonies and 34 misdemeanors in S.F. alone.”
A check of McAlister’s record turned up not only the five previous incidents in 2020, but also the fact he was out on a plea brokered by Boudin, a former public defender who campaigned on reforming the justice system. That deal sentenced McAlister to time served — five years in County Jail while awaiting trial on a 2015 robbery case.
“All right. Mr. McAllister, sir, I wish you the best of luck,” Judge Loretta Giorgi says in the court transcript after the plea deal was finalized.
“I’d like to get my ankle monitor off today,” McAlister replies.
“Oh, yes. I’m going to order your ankle monitor removed as well,” Giorgi says.
“I did like a lot of extra time, like maybe a year extra. So, what happens with that credit?” McAlister pushes. “Will they take it off my parole?”
“That you’ll have to ask the parole agent about,” the judge responds.
And with that, McAlister was a free man.
A 253-page document I obtained that details McAlister’s 25-year criminal record reveals a clear pattern of drug addiction and escalating violence. By the time he wound up in jail for robbing two women at gunpoint at a convenience store, even Boudin’s left-of-progressive predecessor, George Gascón, was recommending a lengthy prison sentence under California’s Three Strikes law, which allows prosecutors to seek a prison sentence of 25 years to life if the defendant is convicted of three serious or violent felonies.
The most disturbing is a defense motion on Jan. 26, 2024, requesting that McAlister be released to a residential program with electronic monitoring.
Hanako’s mother speaks out
While most other reporters focused on excusing Boudin for his incompetence and for running the district attorney’s office based on his personal ideology, I wanted to interview the victims’ families, who were completely ignored by local print and online media, from the blatantly pro-Boudin Mission Local and 48 Hills blogs to the more subtly pro-Boudin daily newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle.
In December 2021, I wrote an article detailing my nearly two-hour Zoom meeting with Hanako Abe’s mother, Hiroko Abe, who lives in Japan, and Tasha Yorozu, an attorney who doesn’t represent Mrs. Abe but who graciously volunteered to translate. During our interview, Mrs. Abe explained that when she asked Boudin why he made the decision to free McAlister, he said, “Because he worked hard and got his GED in jail.” Mrs. Abe told Boudin that a GED, which certifies that someone has high school level academic skills, “has nothing to do with whether this person is rehabilitated and ready to be put back into society.” Boudin blamed those who were supposed to follow up with McAlister, but Mrs. Abe asked, “Didn’t you know how the system as a whole works? And knowing how the system works, why would you release him?” At that point, Mrs. Abe said, Boudin gave a “nonresponse response and apologized.”
Defense asks for McAlistser’s release
According to court records, between the first arraignment on Jan. 5, 2021, and the most recent preliminary hearing on July 15, 2024, there have been 40 hearings, motions, and conferences on behalf of McAlister. The most disturbing is a Jan. 26, 2024, defense motion by public defenders requesting that McAlister be released to a residential program with electronic monitoring.
Ironically, in 2015, despite McAlister’s already long and violent record, the public defender’s office asked the court to release him to the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center. The district attorney’s office (then under Gascón) pointed out that McAlister was in possession of methamphetamine and committed a robbery as well as battery on a police officer all while on parole. “The defendant has a history of violent felony convictions dating back to 1995 and has sustained many misdemeanor convictions,” the district attorney said. “In the current case, the defendant is charged with an allegation of commission of offense while on parole pursuant to Penal Code section 1203.085(a), three 667(e) allegations for prior strikes, three 607(a) allegations, and six prison priors pursuant to Penal Code section 667.5(0). As a result of the charged offenses, the defendant’s exposure in State Prison is approximately thirty-five years to life in prison.”
Since McAlister started his adult criminal career in 1995, seven district attorneys and four public defenders have overseen his violent exploits and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars have been devoted to his prosecution and defense. While it would be convenient to blame his background, you can’t. McAlister’s mother Sylvia worked as a senior deputy clerk for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for 35 years. While his father died when he was young, Troy grew up in a middle class household where he was enrolled in private school through junior high. His younger brother Derek graduated from college and worked as a freelance cameraman for outlets including MTV and BET as well as for a company in Silicon Valley. His uncle Leroy Jones, who worked in IT for the City and County of San Francisco, was also present in his life. In court transcripts, late public defender Jeff Adachi painted McAlister as a manchild who started doing drugs at 15 and could never hold a job, but that doesn’t excuse his reckless, selfish behavior, either.
Meanwhile, the families of Hanako Abe and Elizabeth Platt are still waiting for the slow wheels of justice to turn their way.
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