The Logwood case is a difficult case by any measure.
Given the state of the evidence and the age of the cases, our office concluded it was in the interests of justice to resolve the prosecution of Mr. Logwood with a plea to multiple crimes in connection with the murder of Eric Ford.
Mr. Logwood has been incarcerated for 14 years since 2009 and will serve additional years under the plea deal.
Contrary to the critical comments from the bench, Mr. Logwood has expressed extreme remorse for his behavior as a teenager, and readily agreed to publicly apologize to the families impacted by his demeanor and to the residents of Alameda County.
Even though these crimes occurred almost 15 years ago, our mission in the here and now is to stop violence in our community. The level of violent assaults that injured and took the lives of so many young Black men in the summer of 2008 was not acceptable then, and it is not acceptable today. The killing must stop.
Our office continues to support the families and loved ones impacted in this case and has apologized to everyone for the long delays to bringing this matter to a close. My administration is working mightily to resolve literally thousands of cases where families, survivors, witnesses and defendants have been left “in limbo” for decades by my predecessor.
The trauma and pressures created by these old cases on the survivors of violent crimes, the defendants and their families, the court system and my staff are unacceptable. Everyone responsible for the administration of justice in Alameda County, including the police, the courts and my office need to do much, much better. We are doing our part.