Lawyer in 49ers Ricky Pearsall case: False attempted murder charge

By JANIE HAR

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The attorney for a 17-year-old high school student charged in the broad daylight shooting death of San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall said Tuesday that new video evidence supports his theory that the teen should not be charged with attempted murder.

San Francisco Assistant Public Defender Bob Dunlap said after a pretrial hearing in which the teenager waived his right to a speedy trial that the evidence he found showed that the events on the afternoon of Aug. 31 in Union Square were an attempted robbery, not an attempted murder.

He said the footage he presented to prosecutors showed “quite a long struggle” between the two, with Pearsall gaining the upper hand over the teenager.

“It confirms what I have always believed and assumed in this case, which is that this was an attempted robbery and not an attempted murder,” Dunlap said.

Pearsall, 23, was walking alone to his car after shopping at luxury stores in Union Square on Aug. 31 when the suspect allegedly saw the NFL player wearing a Rolex watch and other expensive jewelry and tried to rob him at gunpoint, San Francisco police said.

A struggle ensued in which both Pearsall and the teenager, who was shot in the arm, were hit by shots from the suspect's weapon, it was said.

The teenager, who lives in Tracy, was arrested about a block from where he allegedly confronted Pearsall.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins charged the teenager last week with attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic weapon and attempted second-degree robbery. Her office later added several weapons charges.

Jenkins has not yet decided whether she will try the juvenile as an adult. Her office needs time to conduct further investigations and, if necessary, ask the court to transfer the case to adult court. California law prohibits prosecutors from charging a minor as an adult without a judge's approval.

The 49ers rookie was shot in the chest at close range, officials said. His mother, Erin Pearsall, posted on social media that the bullet passed through the right side of her son's chest and out his back without hitting any vital organs.