{"id":16617,"date":"2012-09-27T15:53:47","date_gmt":"2012-09-27T22:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?p=16617"},"modified":"2012-09-27T15:55:45","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T22:55:45","slug":"community-activism-sees-youth-freed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/community-activism-sees-youth-freed\/","title":{"rendered":"Community activism sees youth freed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Zayas\u2019 family, Jesus Suarez, (stepfather) Elvira Zayas, (mother), and Alex Rivas (brother) support Elvira outside the courthouse at 850 Bryant St. on the day of her hearing, Sept. 24, 2012. Photo Brenda Lopez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following intense community pressure, Elvira Zayas, a 19-year-old youth from the Mission, was released on Sept. 25 after being incarcerated for almost one month with a $1 million bail.<\/p>\n

She and two other youths were charged with dissuading a witness, assault with a gang enhancement and participation in a gang. Charges would have given the youth at least 7 years in prison if convicted.<\/p>\n

As testified by the alleged victim and SFPD Officers during a preliminary hearing, two young men allegedly assaulted another man on Aug. 29 at 22nd and Shotwell streets after asking if he was a \u201cSure\u00f1o.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two men, seeing the alleged victim reaching for his cell phone, told him to hang up either before or as they proceeded to run away. The victim followed one person to a house where a young woman allegedly exited the building and assaulted him.<\/p>\n

A police car passed and was motioned to stop by the victim who recounted the incident. Officer John Cathey placed two suspects who were identified by the alleged victim into custody. The third person was arrested separately.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here with our posters saying free Elvira Zayas \u2026 keep migrant families together,\u201d said Erika C\u00e9spedes, a community organizer, at a Sept. 20 rally outside 850 Bryant St. \u201cThis is unfair. This is a case of racial profiling. This is what happens when gang injunctions and police surveillance are in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The examination of the prosecutor\u2019s witnesses throughout the four-day preliminary hearing placed a strain on the hopes of supporters. Lawyers could be seen reassuring family members of the incarcerated youth, stating that they had to be careful with the sensitivity of the case.<\/p>\n

After the second day of interrogation the alleged victim showed signs of weariness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to withdraw charges; I want to stop this,\u201d the victim said. \u201cI just want for the police to leave me alone \u2026 I just want to go on with my life.\u201d
\nHowever, Judge Raymond Arata did not permit the defense attorney to inquire whether the victim felt pressure from the District Attourney\u2019s office or the SFPD to testify.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not often that a person in Elvira\u2019s position has the force of an entire community behind her,\u201d said Autumn Paine, Zayas\u2019 defense attorney. \u201cIt is not only a lesson to everyone attending in how our justice system works, but [it] also lets the court and prosecutor know that the community is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community support had been vast since the arrest. A Facebook event created by organizers and friends of Zayas quickly spread the word of the incident, attracting over 200 people. Supporters raised over $6,000 to go towards Zayas\u2019 legal fees.<\/p>\n

Zayas\u2019 release is a relief for the many people who were adamantly beside her throughout her incarceration. The youth, many of whom Zayas had met in different community organizations, plan to continue fund raising projects and events in order to bring awareness to the harsh sentences young people of color face in these circumstances.<\/p>\n

Zayas\u2019 arraignment will be held Oct.9. \u201cI feel that this is a huge victory, although we still have a lot of work to do to prepare this case for trial,\u201d said Paine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following intense community pressure, Elvira Zayas, a 19-year-old youth from the Mission, was released on Sept. 25 after being incarcerated for almost one month with a $1 million bail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1832,827,346,1831],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-16617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-district-attourney","tag-gang-injunction","tag-sfpd","tag-surenos","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nCommunity activism sees youth freed - El Tecolote<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Following intense community pressure, Elvira Zayas, a 19-year-old youth from the Mission, was released on Sept. 25 after being incarcerated for almost one month with a $1 million bail.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/community-activism-sees-youth-freed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Community activism sees youth freed - 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