About Benchwatch
Benchwatch records cases where a government authority released someone from custody and that person was later charged with a violent crime against another person.
Which releases count
A case needs a documented release decision by one of these authorities:
- A judge or magistrate setting bail, bond or release on recognizance
- A state or federal parole board
- A local agency that declined to honor an ICE detainer
- A federal release at the border, such as an order of recognizance
- A local sanctuary ordinance applied over a federal hold
A few cases run the other way. The defendant was already charged with a serious violent crime and was released while that charge was pending. Those cases say so on their page.
What is left out
- Crimes by people who had finished their full sentence, since no release decision was involved
- Cases where the released person was the victim
- Self-defense killings of the released person
- Opinion pieces about bail policy that do not name a specific case
- Cases where primary reporting does not confirm the release terms
Sources
Each case cites at least two published sources, usually local TV or newspaper reports, wire services, court records or government press releases. Every source is linked on the case page. Photos of defendants come from police or sheriff booking records. Photos of victims come from news coverage, and each one is credited.
New cases are found by scanning news feeds and are checked by a person before they appear here.
San Francisco data
The San Francisco rankings use the public SF criminal court dataset (CC BY-NC 4.0). Each release is matched to the judge who presided and to any later case against the same defendant. The page explains its sample-size limits and how it compares judges who handle different kinds of cases.
Presumption of innocence
A charge is not a conviction. Several defendants listed here are awaiting trial, and each case page shows the current status as reported by its sources.