In the case of a former SF fire commissioner who may have bear-sprayed his assault suspect, the suspect’s public defender has brought a mess of domestic violence allegations from Don Carmignani’s ex-wife into the testimony.
Another unexpected turn came Wednesday in the assault trial of unsheltered man Garrett Doty, accused of beating former SF fire commissioner Don Carmignani with a metal pipe and leaving him with a broken jaw and fractured skull. But Doty counters back that he was acting in self-defense, alleging that Carmignani bear-sprayed him first, and had previously bear-sprayed unhoused people in as many as eight incidents. Because of those allegations, Carmignani is now refusing to testify in the trial.
But there was a different and unexpected witness in Wednesday’s trial proceedings — Carmignani’s ex-wife Yvette Corkrean, who was married to him for 13 years as the Chronicle describes in their reporting. (Coincidentally, Corkrean is currently running against Scott Wiener for a state Senate seat). And Doty’s public defender brought up explosive charges that Carmignani had threatened to murder Corkrean in 2013, apparently in hopes of showing Carmignani has a violent streak.
Among the evidence entered Wednesday was a 2013 text from Corkrean to one of her friends saying, “If I end up dead tomorrow, you know it was my drunk ass husband.”
Carmignani is also accused of twisting Corkrean’s arm so badly she had to go to the hospital, and once pulling her out of a bar by her hair, both of which allegations Corkrean confirmed under oath. The defense also brought up an incident wherein Carmignani allegedly punched Corkrean in the face after a Giants game, though according to the Chronicle, she said she couldn’t remember exactly what happened, just that “there was an assault.”
The defense also called Carmignani’s mother Linda Groen to the stand, and confronted her with video of someone spraying an unsheltered person in the Marina in 2021. The Chronicle describes her as “reluctant" to answer questions about whether the attacker in that video was Carmignani. But she did say under oath that “It looks like Don,” and, “It looks like his stature and everything.”
Image: Nors D. via Yelp
