Jury in Santa Clara perjury trial begins deliberations

Closing arguments in Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker’s perjury trial have wrapped up, putting the case into the jury’s hands.

Jurors will be deciding on two counts: if Becker is guilty of lying to the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury about whether he leaked a 2022 report on the city’s relationship with the San Francisco 49ers to team executive Rahul Chandhok, and whether he violated his duty as a public official to keep the report confidential. Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky argued the case was as simple as proving Becker leaked the report and lied about doing so, while Deputy Public Defender Chris Montoya, one of Becker’s lawyers, poked holes in the DA’s investigation.

The month-long trial has been full of stutters and disagreements between Becker’s lawyers and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Becker’s lawyers filed a series of motions Tuesday about problems with the evidence allowed in the trial, including a motion to declare a mistrial. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Javier Alcala, who has been presiding over the trial, denied that motion on Wednesday.

The prosecution highlighted the five elements of perjury, so the jury could understand on what basis to make a decision. Malinsky emphasized the second element — that Becker intentionally said information was true when he knew it was false — as the main point up for debate, and focused much of his closing argument trying to prove that.

“(Becker) came in, swore an oath to tell the truth and he didn’t just lie about a collateral matter. He lied about the very thing that was the focus of what the civil grand jury was investigating,” Malinsky said.

He repeated Chandhok’s testimony that he received the report from Becker on Oct. 6, 2022 over the secure messaging app Signal. He also repeated testimony from Councilmember Suds Jain, who said Becker told him about leaking the report to a journalist at Silicon Valley Voice.

Malinsky said jurors should use their “common sense” when looking at the evidence, such as Becker’s motive in leaking the report to the 49ers.  The team spent millions of dollars to support his 2022 unsuccessful run for mayor and oppose incumbent Mayor Lisa Gillmor.

The defense’s closing argument focused on the integrity of the DA’s investigation. Montoya questioned why the DA’s office chose not to look into other leads, such as how investigators didn’t interview any grand jury members and didn’t look through Councilmember Kevin Park’s cellphone, after hearing Park and Chandhok spoke the same day Becker allegedly sent Chandhok the report. He repeated concerns with the DA’s expert witnesses’ credibility by pointing to their lack of certifications and limited experience in digital forensics.

He painted Chandhok as an unreliable witness by pointing out how Chandhok previously told his colleagues — including the 49ers legal team — he received the report from journalists, rather than Becker.
Along with questioning the investigation’s integrity, Montoya said the prosecution’s other evidence, like records gleaned from Becker and Chandhok’s devices, is circumstantial and flawed.

“(There’s) no direct evidence, the case relies on an admitted liar and circumstantial evidence,” Montoya said. “Members of the jury, you cannot convict someone based on speculation.”

Jurors started deliberations at about 4 p.m. Wednesday and are expected to continue through Thursday morning.

Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X, formerly known as Twitter.