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Charges dropped for homeless man who flashed toy gun while panhandling

By Jacqueline Dowd

A felony robbery charge has been dropped, freeing a homeless man accused of flashing a realistic-looking toy gun before asking a patron in a San Francisco laundry for 50 cents to buy a can of beer.

A jury had deadlocked 8-4 in favor of acquitting Stephen Quiles, and a mistrial was declared. Prosecutors now say they will not retry the case.

"That's an appropriate result," said Quiles' attorney, Eric Liberman. "I'm still wondering how four people were willing to vote guilty on a case that I thought clearly raised, at a minimum, reasonable doubt, if not actual proof of innocence."

Read the San Francisco Chronicle article here. And see previous post here.

Full post as published by the 13th juror on April 17, 2008 (boomark / email).