San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow issued a statement surrounding the arrest of two Black Lives Matter protesters on Tuesday in San Luis Obispo.
Protesters have been calling on prosecutors to drop charges against Tiana Arata and Elias Bautista.
Dow says it is premature to make any determination in the case being investigated by the San Luis Obispo Police Department.
I know that many in our community are very interested in this situation. At this time, I would like to respectfully ask all who are concerned to please be patient and allow us to complete our duty in a fair, thoughtful, and thorough manner. Our obligation is to be objective and to not make charging decisions on the basis of public opinion.
Please know that it is premature for the District Attorney's Office to make any determination on the case that is currently being investigated by the San Luis Obispo Police Department regarding the facts of the arrests of Ms. Tianna Arata and Mr. Elias Bautista. Once law enforcement agencies have concluded their investigation(s), they will likely refer the case(s) to our office for review.
Only at that time will we be able to conduct our independent evaluation of the evidence and make a factual determination of whether criminal charges should be filed in Court.
It would be inappropriate and counterproductive for this office to provide an opinion at this time based on social media posts or media reports that may or may not be borne out by the evidence (facts) gathered in the pending investigation(s). We will carefully and thoroughly examine all of the evidence submitted before making any final determination.
