Former Santa Clara Councilmember Anthony Becker will receive just three of his numerous belongings back after being held for nearly three years in a perjury investigation.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Javier Alcala did not grant the motion to return more than 30 items to Becker and his husband Wednesday, including laptops and phones. But he required the District Attorney’s Office to return two documents and a laptop belonging to Becker’s mother. Becker — who was found guilty of perjury last year after lying about leaking a 2022 Civil Grand Jury report to San Francisco 49ers executives — had his items seized in a 2023 raid of his home.
His lawyers have argued for months the district attorney’s office no longer needs to hold the items because they aren’t part of an active investigation after Becker served his 40-day sentence of sheriff’s work and 40 hours of community service. The district attorney’s office has argued it needs to hold on to the items in case Becker’s appeal of his guilty verdict leads to a retrial and a reexamination of evidence.
In addition to returning the three items, Alcala ordered prosecutors to send a list of items they haven’t been able to access due to passcodes, as well as a list of items that have yet to be examined. He said if Becker and his team give the DA’s office the passcodes to locked devices and the office finds there is no evidence on them, they could be returned.
“I’m trying to grant as much as I can,” Alcala said in the hearing. “I have no doubt that a lot of these things have no value whatsoever to the (district attorney’s office), but we don’t know that for sure.”
Deputy Public Defender Chris Montoya, one of Becker’s lawyers, said the decision isn’t right. He said in court Becker can’t afford to replace the devices, and needs them to gain employment because they contain his film portfolio. He also said the devices have important personal documents on them not accessible in the cloud.
In a reply to the district attorney’s office filed Wednesday, Becker’s team said keeping the items “is not lawful, it is not equitable, and certainly not fair to Mr. Becker.” They argue the only items used as evidence were extractions from Becker’s personal and work phones, which were completed years ago.
It’s also a loss for Becker’s husband, Abel Cardona, who had two phones and a laptop taken in the raid. None of Cardona’s items have been involved in the investigation, according to a letter from Cardona.
“The law, I think on this issue, favors Mr. Becker and it’s disappointing that he’s not able to obtain things that he needs to move forward and progress post conviction,” Montoya told San José Spotlight.
During the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky argued the decision is right because Becker’s appeal could lead to a retrial. He agreed returning the three items was reasonable. In an opposition to the motion filed in August, the DA’s office argued returning the items “would prejudice the People’s ability to prosecute this case” if evidence had to be reexamined in a retrial. The opposition said until the appeal is resolved, judgment on the case is not final.
Malinsky said there’s a possibility the DA’s office could uncover more evidence on Becker’s devices if the appeal goes to a retrial.
“The appeal will take time, and as we know, technology moves quite (quickly), and so further forensic examination may be necessary,” he said at the hearing. “We would continue to try to access other devices that we have, as of now, been unable to access because of technology limitations, but technology may permit us (tools) in the future.”
The timeline of the appeal is unclear. The court will host another hearing March 6 at 9 a.m. to assess the possibility of returning more items if Becker grants the DA’s office his passcodes.
Montoya said this is affecting more people than Becker, including his husband, who has had to financially provide for both of them while Becker has been unable to get a job. He said the couple is still paying off a laptop in custody they haven’t had for three years.
“Altogether, this is not what the consequences are supposed to be for Mr. Becker,” he said at the hearing. “He’s been a model probationer.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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