Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker plans to appeal his guilty verdict, days after a jury found he committed perjury and failed to uphold his duties as a public official.
Deputy Public Defender Chris Montoya, one of the lawyers representing Becker, confirmed Monday the plan to appeal last week’s verdict. After a month-long trial, a jury found Becker guilty of leaking a 2022 Santa Clara County Grand Jury report before its official publication date to 49ers executive Rahul Chandhok, and lying about it to the grand jury during its investigation.
One day after the verdict, Becker resigned from his Santa Clara City Council seat — leaving it vacant for the next week until Councilmember-elect Kelly Cox is sworn in on Dec. 17. Becker did not respond to requests for comment.
“We won’t be commenting on the issue of resignation right now, but we will be filing an appeal,” Montoya told San José Spotlight.
Montoya said the legal team has roughly 60 days to file the appeal.
City spokesperson Janine De la Vega confirmed Becker’s seat will be vacant for one meeting before Cox takes over the seat: a Tuesday study session about hosting Super Bowl 60 and multiple FIFA World Cup games in 2026. Cox, who beat Becker in November to represent District 6, did not respond to requests for comment.
Throughout the trial, Becker’s lawyers faced objections to evidence related to the city’s political environment and the report’s contents. Before delivering closing arguments, they filed four motions, including a motion to declare mistrial on the grounds that they were unable to pursue a holistic defense. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Javier Alcala denied all of them.
In his resignation letter, Becker said it was a privilege to represent Santa Clara residents on the city council. He also thanked city employees and his fellow councilmembers for their work.
“It was always a dream of mine to be a part of the government process, creating our city’s policies, enhancing development, and shaping the City’s direction,” Becker wrote. “I will miss being of service to the people of this wonderful city.”
Becker’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 31 at 9 a.m.
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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