After five long years waiting for justice, Hiroko Abe, the mother of Hanako Abe, thought her daughter’s killer was finally headed to trial. On Oct. 28, amid international press coverage and with victim advocates rallying in front of the courthouse and packing the courtroom, Care Court creator and lead Judge Michael Begert told six-figure felon Troy McAlister he was denying his request for diversion to drug court, saying, “I think the way forward, as I see it, is for you to face your community through the criminal justice system and take accountability.” Begert was clearly swayed by the publicity (witnesses saw him pop his head out the courtroom door to check the crowd) because he has a reputation for granting diversion liberally. With the community’s eyes upon him in a high-profile case, Begert set a jury trial hearing for Nov. 25, 2025, but that date would come and go.
McAlister has committed over 100 felonies in multiple counties over a 30-year criminal career.
On Monday, Dec. 15, Hiroko Abe, who lives in Japan and speaks little English, received an email from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, stating:
I wanted to provide you all with an update on the case. I noticed that the defense attorney has placed a ‘995 motion’ on the calendar, which is a common procedural step prior to proceeding to a jury trial. The purpose of a 995 motion is to have a different judge review the decisions made by the judge who heard and made the rulings at the preliminary hearing. The defense will argue that the prosecution did not present sufficient evidence at the preliminary hearing to support the charges and move forward to a jury trial. The prosecution will have an opportunity to respond to those arguments. This motion represents the defense’s final opportunity to seek dismissal of the charges at this stage.
The letter also offered to provide a Zoom link should the family “like to observe the hearing remotely.”
The 995 motion, made by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, which represents McAlister, will be heard in Department 10 this Friday, Dec. 19, at 9 a.m., where a judge will make the final decision on whether the charges will remain as filed for trial or whether any changes will be made moving forward. Community advocates plan to be there to support Hiroko Abe and the family of McAlister’s second victim, Elizabeth Platt (the Platt family hasn’t been active in the case).
Former president of San Francisco’s Commission on the Status of Women and former SFO Commissioner Caryl Ito said she has some familiarity with Platt, who was homeless. “When I was an airport commissioner, someone at the airport knew Elizabeth because she was smart enough to sleep safely there,” she told The Voice by phone. Ito, who has a master of social work (MSW), said she felt bad for the Abe family, who are in Japan and don’t understand why the American justice system takes so long. “I hope victim advocacy groups who see these cases dragged on for years and last-minute chances for the offenders understand it’s cruelty for the survivors,” Ito said. “What’s gotten out of control is the imbalance of advocacy for criminals.… I realize people of color are disproportionately affected, but when we get to murder, that’s something we can’t accept. I’m exasperated by the delays. It’s gone overboard where, for the victims and their families, it’s beyond cruel.”
The Voice contributor John Trasviña, past dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law, explained that at Friday’s hearing, the public defender must demonstrate that the district attorney’s case lacks factual support. “The district attorney must vigorously oppose the 995 motion,” Trasviña told the Voice by phone. “Hanako, her mother, and all those deeply affected by her murder should see justice done even at this late date. This case must go to trial. The 995 motion is the defendant’s last chance before trial to seek dismissal of the felony charges against him. Judge Rhoads, who will make the decision, is the Superior Court’s specialist on 995 motions.”
According to Stop Crime Action, Judge Michael Rhoads attended Santa Clara University, earning a B.A. in 2006. In 2009, he received a J.D. from George Washington University Law School. Rhoads began his career as a law clerk in the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. In 2010, he joined the California Attorney General’s Office. In 2012, he became a deputy legal affairs secretary in the California Office of the Governor. In 2015, he returned to the California Attorney General’s office before becoming a staff attorney for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California. He was appointed to the Superior Court in December 2022 by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
On his Stop Crime Action report card, Rhoads received a passing grade. He earned “a high average survey rating of 6.0 from trial attorneys who closely observe the courts,” though relatively few attorneys were familiar with his performance at the time of the study because he had served on the court for less than a year. His highest rating was for “professionalism and judicial temperament.” (Ratings are on a scale of 1 to 7, with seven the highest score.)
Concerning cases include Rhoads dismissing two drug-dealing cases on his own initiative during Stop Crime’s study period, without a motion by the district attorney. He released defendants prior to trial (or modified their release conditions without placing them in custody or on home detention) in 14 felony drug dealing cases, “including 10 cases where the new felony was committed while the defendant was on pretrial release from an earlier case.”
In 2020, then-San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin negotiated a plea deal to release McAlister after five years in county jail, awaiting trial on a 2015 robbery case. Once freed, McAlister, who has committed over 100 felonies in multiple counties over a 30-year criminal career, was arrested for multiple felonies on June 28, Aug. 20, Oct. 15, Nov. 6, and Dec. 20, serving a combined 11 days in jail.
The Dec. 20 arrest came just 11 days prior to the fatal crash that killed 27-year-old Hanako Abe and 60-year-old Elizabeth Platt. In our Dec. 10, 2025, exclusive, we revealed that the California Department of Corrections, McAlister’s San Francisco parole agent, and his agent’s supervisors refused to place a parole hold on McAlister, allowing his violence to escalate.
When McAlister struck and killed 60-year-old Platt and 27-year-old Abe in San Francisco on Dec. 31, 2020, he was fleeing in a vehicle that he carjacked from a woman on their second date. At a Nation’s restaurant in Daly City, McAlister brandished a firearm with an extended magazine and told the woman that he carried it “in case people became ignorant” before grabbing her keys, flipping her the middle finger, and speeding away. She filed a report with Daly City Police, who alerted parole.
That arrest was one of several over a six-month period that should have resulted in a parole hold by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Adult Parole Operations, and San Francisco Parole Unit 1 agents.