United States v. Williams

*619 MEMORANDUM **

Convicted of a felony on January 26, 1999, defendant Williams was on parole at the time of his arrest. On December 26, 2001, San Francisco Police Department (“SFPD”) officers saw a Ford Taurus that had been reported stolen, made a U-turn and drove towards the Taurus. Williams, who was driving the Taurus, sped away, leading the officers on a high-speed chase through city streets and onto the freeway. The chase ended on an elevated portion of the freeway over Vermont Street when Williams’ car collided with another car, then a police car, and then the guardrail. The pursuing officers observed Williams exit the Taurus and run to the freeway guardrail. One officer testified at trial that Williams wadded his jacket into a ball as he ran. Williams threw his jacket over the guardrail and continued to run on the freeway until officers tackled and arrested him.

Officers next recovered the jacket from where it had landed on Vermont Street. Officers found the jacket and inches to a foot away, on an adjacent strip of grass, a gun. Officers also testified that there was a fresh divot mark in the dirt next to the gun. The jacket pocket was found to contain a small rock of…