A year after Gubaksh "G" Chahal attacked his then-girlfriend in his San Francisco penthouse, a crime for which he was originally charged with 47 felony counts but for which he eventually pleaded guilty to just two misdemeanors, he violated the terms of his probation by, once again, repeatedly hitting a different woman. TechCrunch was the first to report on the the finding of San Francisco Superior Court Judge Tracie Brown, which could result in the revocation of Chahal's probation and even the jail time Chahal has so far eluded.
The Business Times has it that Chahal's passports have been turned over to the court and that a hearing is set for August 12 to decide his penalty. That may be harsher due to a favorable ruling for the prosecution: Judge Brown said that crucial video evidence from the first attack with which Chahal was charged will be admissible as evidence, considered in the August 12 hearing and entered into the public record for the first time.
That surveillance video from Chahal's penthouse, which prosecutors say shows Chahal hitting his girlfriend more than 100 times in fewer than 30 minutes, was deemed unlawfully seized and therefore inadmissible. Former mayor and practicing attorney/consultant Willie Brown was instrumental in that ruling, consulting with Chahal for a fee originally reported as $1 million but which Brown later claimed was $50,000.
"I think it’s very important you find that video admissible, and you should watch it,” the Chronicle quotes Assistant District Attorney O’Bryan Kenney as saying. “In the very room, in the very bed where he did it before... the pattern here is unmistakable." The defense has questioned Chahal's second accuser, calling her "deceitful" and pointing to her departure from the country: She has returned to South Korea citing fears of retaliation from Chahal, prosecutors say. Chahal's bodyguards repeatedly confronted her, they claim, threatening her with, among other things, deportation.
In April, as hearings began to determine whether Chahal had violated his probation, his case saw a new twist: A campaign to discredit District Attorney Gascon for allegedly racist prosecution of Chahal. The campaign, the Weekly speculated at the time, was called for by Chahal himself. It appears to have had no effect on the proceedings.
Beverly Upton, the executive director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, has weighed in on the case frequently, and adds this time to the Chronicle that "We hope the cycle will be broken here with some accountability and raising his awareness that his behavior is harmful."
Previously: G Chahal, The Worst Bad Man In Silicon Valley, Might Finally End Up In Jail