Hearing set in hit-and-run case

The preliminary hearing for a woman charged in the hit-and-run death of a gay man in San Francisco has been set for June 17.

Gregory Anstett, 51, died at 12:10 a.m. December 23 after a 1994 Jeep Cherokee struck him on Van Ness Avenue at Post Street. Anstett, an optician at Kaiser Permanente, was a San Francisco resident for more than 20 years.

San Francisco police later arrested Samantha Osborne, 25, of Novato. Osborne pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crime at her arraignment in January, said Connie Chan, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. She turned herself in to authorities several days after the alleged incident. She was released on bond.

SFPD Inspector Dean Taylor previsouly said that Anstett was "on the hood of the car for about 50 feet. We don't suspect the car was traveling that fast."

Osborne was stopped by police 20 minutes after the accident on Geary Boulevard and 8th Avenue. There were an unknown number of passengers in the vehicle at the time police stopped her, SFPD spokesman Sergeant Neville Gittens said. But he said that she was alone at the time of the incident. Osborne wasn't suspected to be intoxicated at the time she was stopped, according to Gittens, and was released "pending further investigation."

Osborne has been wearing a SCRAM bracelet, which checks for alcohol in a person's system, but it's unclear if she's still wearing it.

Sergeant Steve Mannina, SFPD spokesman, told the Bay Area Reporter on March 21 that Anstett was in the crosswalk when he was struck. Mannina said blood tests were done on Osborne, but he couldn't discuss the results. He also said that it wasn't known how fast the vehicle was going at the time of the incident, pending reconstruction of the event.

In court Monday, April 28 - when the date of the preliminary hearing was originally to be determined - Jim Collins, Osborne's attorney, said new evidence he called "somewhat exculpatory" had been introduced that would change the dynamic of the preliminary hearing, when a judge will decide if there is enough evidence for Osborne to stand trial.

Also Monday, Assistant District Attorney Karen Catalona told Superior Court Judge Charlene Padovani Mitchell that a "very reluctant" witness had been found. She asked the judge to order a bench warrant for the witness, but Mitchell said, "I don't think we do bench warrants for civilians."

Friends of Anstett have written letters to the court. Catalona told the B.A.R. last month that "Mr. Anstett was very beloved ... it's important that the judge knows what a big impact [his] death had."

At least one of Osborne's charges could be reduced to a misdemeanor.

Collins told the B.A.R. April 28 that he doesn't think the manslaughter charge can be proved, and he wants to get the charges reduced.

Anstett's friends have wondered if Osborne is getting special treatment because they've heard her father is a former police officer.

A Samuel Osborne lives at the same address as Samantha Osborne. The September 2006 issue of the San Francisco Police Officers Association journal lists Samuel Osborne as a recent retiree from the Police Academy.

Collins confirmed that the man who has accompanied Osborne to court several times is her father, but he wouldn't say what the man's name is. When asked if Osborne's father had ever been with the police department, Collins paused and said, "I don't think I should comment on other members of her family."

When asked by the B.A.R. in court if he'd ever been with the SFPD, Osborne's father said, "I don't want to talk to you."

A source within the police department who's not involved with the case told the B.A.R. that the handling of the case seemed common to him and the charges Osborne faces are "extremely accurate."