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San Francisco's Public Defender Claims Wrong Teen In Jail For Murder

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— Public Defender Jeff Adachi released a video Monday that he claims clears the accused killer of a popular 14-year-old football player and that the wrong teenager is in jail for murder.

Adachi got a judge to okay the public release of surveillance video that he says definitively shows that his 14-year-old client did not stab former classmate Rashawn Williams outside a Mission District store in September and that he's innocent.

The grainy video appears to show another juvenile wielding the knife. Warning, video may be disturbing:

"We know that the police know who the other person is. Why they didn't investigate it is beyond us," said Adachi.

Assistant District Attorney Alex Bastian said investigators are aware of that second suspect, and they're enhancing the video. He reminded that there's been a public outcry to try as an adult, the accused killer who now may turn out not to be the killer at all.

"These cases are always ongoing. There's always new information that comes around and we have to be deliberate and we have to be measured in the way that we respond so that we make the right decision," Bastian said.

Rashawn Williams Video
An image released by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi in the killing of Rashawn Williams. (San Francisco Public Defender)

Both sides have had this video for months, while the 14-year-old defendant sits in juvenile hall. A hearing is set for next month.

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