San Anselmo Hate Crime Suspect Won't Face Charges: DA

SAN ANSELMO, CA — A San Anselmo man who earlier this year left racially charged voicemails threatening violence against the town's first Black mayor won't face criminal charges, Marin County District Attorney Lori E. Frugoli said Tuesday.

Jerald Welty, 63, was arrested in May on suspicion of making criminal threats with hate crime enhancements in connection with the incident after identifying himself in the voicemails threatening San Anselmo Mayor Brian Colbert, the Central Marin Police Department said at the time.
Welty served two days in county jail before being released.

"He used words that we associate with the Jim Crow South, not Northern California in the 21st century," Colbert told The Marin Independent Journal around the time of the incident.

Though repugnant, the incident did not rise to the level of criminality in the estimation of Frugoli, who explained her decision not to charge Welty in a video her office posted on YouTube.

The use of racist language is offensive and disgusting," Frugoli said. "That kind of hate has no place in our society, and it has no place in Marin County. That is my personal opinion.

"As your District Attorney, I also have a professional responsibility to oversee legal opinions on thousands of cases every year following the strict guidelines of California law. My office has found that no laws were broken in this case."

The decision not to charge Welty followed prosecutors vetting the evidence with members of an ad hoc committee on hate crimes, Frugoli said.

Hate speech is constitutionally protected as long as it does not interfere with the civil rights of others, county officials said.

The DA's office is obligated to follow strict guidelines to determine whether laws were broken before pursuing charges toward an accused person, county officials said.

For a criminal charge to be filed, the evidence must meet the legal standard of proof that is beyond a reasonable doubt, county officials said.

"I want to make it clear that the Marin County District Attorney's Office encourages people to report possible hate crimes to their local law enforcement agencies," Frugoli said.

"I assure you we take them seriously, and when they fit the criteria of a hate crime, we will vigorously prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."