On Thursday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins dismissed all charges against SFPD Officer Christopher Flores, who shot burglary suspect Jamaica Hampton during a foot chase in the Mission in 2019 — after Hampton had already been shot twice by another officer and was crawling on the ground.
Jenkins today stated that she cannot “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Flores did not act in reasonable self-defense.” She said that the grand jury which indicted Flores in 2020, on charges of negligent discharge of a firearm and assault with a firearm, had not seen two exculpatory witness statements — and said the charges filed by her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, were filed for “political gain.”
“The probable cause standard for the indictment was only met because exculpatory evidence was not adequately presented to the grand jury by the previous administration,” her statement reads.
Body camera footage shows that on Dec. 7, 2019, Hampton attacked two police officers with a glass Grey Goose vodka bottle, causing Flores to bleed from his head. As Flores and Officer Sterling Hayes attempted to apprehend Hampton, Hampton ran off.
Hampton weaved between parked cars on 23rd Street before eventually running back in the direction of officer Hayes, who had anticipated Hampton’s move and headed him off. Hayes fired at Hampton multiple times, striking him twice and causing him to fall to the ground and drop his bottle.
Surveillance footage then shows Flores, pistol drawn, approaching to within roughly five yards of Hampton. Flores shoots the suspect once while Hampton was staggering and crawling on the ground. After Flores fired a single shot, Hayes repeatedly yells “Stop, stop, stop!”
The motion to dismiss the charges, despite the indictment by a grand jury, rests on two witness statements of the seven included in the filing testimony, which were not presented to jury members.
One witness said he believed that the officers shot for “officer safety,” and that he too “would have shot [Hampton].” Another described Hampton as “very violent toward the officer.”
A third witness, however, said that the shot taken by Flores “bothered him,” because Hampton was “already down on the ground.”
The filing also dismisses the fact that Hayes, Flores’ training officer, had turned his back on Hampton after shooting him.
“The fact that Hayes turned his back on Hampton and no longer viewed Hampton as a threat does not impair Flores’s ability or right to exercise self-defense because his perception (what he saw) was different than that of Hayes,” the filing reads.
The filing attempts to justify how Flores could have perceived life-threatening danger from an unarmed man yards away, who was on the ground and had just been shot twice. The filing cites that Flores may have believed Hampton was “standing up” because he had “degraded visual acuity, mental perception, and stress” from having been struck on the head.
This dismissal comes on the heels of Jenkins facing criticism for her decision to dismiss charges against Michael Earl-Gray Anthony, the Walgreens security guard who fatally shot Banko Brown last month.
Jenkins dismissed those charges under a code allowing her to re-file at a later date — but made definitive statements that the evidence she reviewed revealed Anthony “believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense,” which compromised any future prosecution.
Police and the Jenkins have confirmed that Brown was unarmed. Neither the police nor the Jenkins will release surveillance footage of the shooting.
In February, Jenkins dismissed charges against Officer Christopher Samayoa, who shot dead carjacking suspect Keita O’Neil in 2017. In March, the DA’s office pulled medical records for Sean Moore, who in 2020 died of wounds sustained during a 2017 police shooting. This led to concern among Moore’s survivors that the DA was fishing for a rationale to drop charges against Officer Kenneth Cha, who shot Moore.
Is it any wonder no one wants to join the SFPD? Are they supposed to be super heroes with ninja like reflexes or ordinary human beings scared for their lives? From what I’m told they’re understaffed by 700 officers and there’s maybe 40 uniformed officers on duty each night in the entire city. This city is dying right before your liberal eyes. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Jenkins is giving cops and security guards a free pass to maim and murder. This is not law and order and encourages mayhem and chaos. How many more victims will we have on our hands because of her message to shoot if you feel like it?
Take out the bad guys from SF. Good job SF Police!
Kim —
Nobody died here.
JE
Appearing as a public defender of killer cops and security guards, Brooke Jenkins, Esq.
Wow. Wow. Wow. I do believe the officer that was repeatedly battered in the head and face by the glass bottle suffered a broken bone (possible skull) from the attack. Mr Hampton had gathered himself on the street and was attempting to stand when the officer in question shot.
Lorri —
You’re describing the photo included in the story and the embedded video. The officer is standing five or six yards away as Hampton staggers to his feet and falls … and is then shot. There may be other factors at play — if memory serves, Flores’ lawyer in 2019 said his head injury played into his reaction — but we can all look at the pictures and make our own judgments.
JE
Hi Joe. I’m sure it was a hectic scene for all. Mr Hampton was unfortunately under the influence on something. But he was still attempting to stand when shot by the second officer. In fact after that shot, Hampton continued to try to stand and was still moving forward towards that injured officer. This is clearly a lawful use of self defense. We all have a right to self defense. This is not some special defense raised by the officer attorney that only cops get.
Lorri, we are not entitled to the same rules of self defense that police are. This would never have been considered self defense for a private citizen in a California court of law.
Nick , I do believe it is the same CA law. Jurors may feel different about a cop and a citizen but the law and the self defense claim is the same. If not, can you point me in the direction where they differ? Thank you.
In the video he has already clearly displayed his willingness to injure an officer, and at the point he was shot he was running down the sidewalk and turned to charge the officer. Good shoot.
Sir or madam —
Go watch it again. The two shots from the first officer were unambiguously lawful. It’s the third shot from Flores that is in question. By that point Hampton is on the ground, bleeding, and unable to right himself.
JE
Looks like he was getting back up and I’m guessing not to apologize for attacking the officer. Arguably unnecessary, but that’s an easy call to make from the comfort of our screens outside the heat of the moment. I’m just glad the suspect is no longer a threat to public safety.