For details on the murder of Glen Park resident Leo Hainzl last Memorial Day morning, see:
The Glen Park Association has received a further update on this case from Assistant District Attorney Brian Bringardner.
In addition to being a prosecutor, Bringardner has also recently been named our District 8 Liaison for Glen Park. As part of his role, he is able to meet with community groups, field concerns from community members, and follow up on cases and incidents that occur in District 8.
Bringardner is also working in conjunction with Supervisor Mandelman’s office, the San Francisco Police Department, and other community agencies to ensure our responses are coordinated and aimed at efficiently addressing the concerns of District 8 residents. His role is ever-expanding and evolving to find creative ways to interact with the community and find solutions to community problems, especially during the COVID pandemic.
Bringardner moved to San Francisco in 1986 and has been working in the District Attorney’s office for 24 years.
His email is Brian.Bringardner@sfgov.org.
Here is the update.
People vs. Peter Rocha, court number 20006097:
“On September 17, 2020, Mr. Rocha’s attorney declared a doubt as to Mr. Rocha’s mental competency. The applicable statute is Penal Code section 1368. This halts all criminal proceedings until Mr. Rocha is determined to be mentally competent.
Based on a psychiatric report, a judge found Mr. Rocha to be incompetent to stand trial and ordered that Mr. Rocha be committed to a state mental hospital, which is a locked facility, for up to two years.
If Mr. Rocha regains mental competency within two years, the case will go forward to trial. If Mr. Rocha does not regain mental competency within two years, a civil commitment, known as a Murphy conservatorship, will be sought. The Murphy conservatorship can keep Mr. Rocha in a locked hospital and will continue for as long as Mr. Rocha is determined to be both incompetent and a danger to others.
Because this is a murder case with no statute of limitations, the District Attorney will retain the legal ability to prosecute Mr. Rocha is he ever regains competency. But the passage of time may eventually make the prosecution impossible if key witnesses are no longer available to testify at a trial.
Mr. Rocha has not yet been transported to a state hospital due to a shortage of available beds. This delay is routine but has also been compounded by COVID. The next court date for this case is February 17 for the status of Mr. Rocha’s transportation to a state hospital.
Until Mr. Rocha is transported to a state mental hospital, he will remain in San Francisco County Jail, where psychiatric treatment, including medication, is available. However, only at the state hospital can Mr. Rocha be involuntarily medicated.”