District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe took about two weeks to decide whether his office would pursue the death penalty in the case against Daniel Contreras, who is accused of molesting and murdering his girlfriend’s 17-month-old daughter in August of 2015.
While he personally supports the death penalty and has advocated for it at the state level during at least two proposition battles, Wagstaffe knew the ultimate conviction is not an easy one to get. He also recognizes its popularity has waned and getting a San Mateo County jury to agree to a death penalty conviction is not a sure thing.
However, Wagstaffe said the nature of this particular crime made it worth considering. In speaking to jurors over the years, Wagstaffe said there are two types of cases they would consider for the death penalty — the murder of a police officer or firefighter doing their jobs or the murder of a child who was molested.
Society’s changing attitude about the death penalty weighed heavily on his decision that was announced earlier this month.
“The questions are, does this crime warrant the punishment, and would jurors in San Mateo County return such a verdict? ... I think that they might,” he said.
Wagstaffe has prosecuted five death penalty cases in his career and has recommended the death penalty as a prosecutor, but this was the first case he decided as the district attorney. He replaced former district attorney Jim Fox just after the last death penalty verdict in 2010 when a judge sentenced Alberto Alvarez for the murder of East Palo Alto Officer Richard May in 2006.
“I hoped I never would have to make that decision,” Wagstaffe said.
Though the decision was made a couple weeks ago and announced soon after, Wagstaffe said he hasn’t received any community feedback on the decision. Does that mean there is support for the decision? It might be too soon to tell.
On a lighter note, plans for a fourth elementary school in Foster City are moving ahead, albeit very slowly, and tenants of the Charter Square shopping center are starting to make moves for their future.
That includes Tokie’s, a Japanese restaurant that has been there for 36 years. Though the owners of the restaurant tried to find a location in Foster City, they were unable, and decided to make a big move to downtown San Mateo.
They are moving to 34 E. Fourth Ave., the former location of Block 34, and before that, Pasta Primavera. They are looking to do a soft opening in February or beginning of March, most likely the latter.
Tokie’s specializes in Japanese comfort food, along with sushi, and its owners and management said they look forward to new menu items, a full liquor bar with craft cocktails and happy hour.
Looks like the Total Wine & More store at Bridgepointe Shopping Center will be opening soon. The new store’s manager reports there was a hiring event this week and the grand opening is slated for March 22.
Total Wine & More sells thousands of different wine and boutique craft beers, and is rapidly expanding. It is set to take over the 27,000-square-foot storefront near the juncture of Highway 101 and State Route 92 that formerly held Sports Authority, which went out of business.
A public unveiling of the Redwood City Pages book project is being planned for Feb. 8. The project is a new public art piece to be displayed at the city’s downtown library and entailed the artist, Brian Taylor, working with the community to create the larger-than-life-sized piece. The effort comes at the end of the city’s sesquicentennial celebration held throughout last year.
The San Carlos Chamber of Commerce and the city of San Carlos announced its Citizen of the Year to be honored at its Business Recognition Gala Feb. 2. It is Scott McMullin, co-founder of Sequoia Village and advocate for senior support services. Additional honorees are Recology of San Mateo County as Business of the Year; Flora Burke, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith, Inc. as Chamber Champion; and the San Mateo Daily Journal’s very own Charles “Skip” Gould as Chamber Member of the Year. The San Carlos Education Foundation also announced the recipient of its Champion for Schools Award for support of the San Carlos Education Foundation Endowment Fund: Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Daniel Elkes, Elkes Foundation. Congrats!
Jon Mays is the editor in chief of the Daily Journal. He can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmays.
(1) comment
I agree with the Death Penalty punishment attempt for Daniel Contreras by the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.
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