A San Francisco narcotics officer who allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with a confidential informant is now accused of jeopardizing a criminal investigation, newly released records show.
The records, filed in federal court on Monday, expand the range of known misconduct allegations surrounding Officer Christina Hayes, who was taken off the streets last month over her handling of the confidential source.
The records reveal that Hayes is accused of divulging confidential information and impeding an active criminal investigation involving a confidential informant, in addition to having an inappropriate relationship with the informant.
Those details of her administrative case were provided to the U.S. Attorney’s Office by the San Francisco Police Department on June 28 and later shared with the federal Public Defender’s Office as part of a narcotics case. A federal public defender then disclosed them in a filing Monday.
Hayes was a longtime narcotics officer who frequently testified in court cases at the Hall of Justice before her June 20 reassignment.
The allegations against Hayes spurred local prosecutors in both San Francisco and Alameda counties to review cases involving her, with a spokesperson for San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins saying that some cases may be impacted due to the “unavailability of a witness.”
Jenkins’ office has dismissed at least 22 cases so far, including one that involved enough fentanyl to kill 2 million people.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price has dismissed nine cases as of Monday and is reviewing dozens of others, according to her office.
The new details emerged in a federal narcotics case against two alleged drug dealers who lived in Oakland and sold drugs in the Tenderloin, prosecutors said. Court records show Hayes was among the SFPD officers who searched the house where authorities believe the suspects lived last October.
During the search, Hayes and another officer found more than five pounds of fentanyl, over $7,000 in cash, ammunition and other contraband, court records show. She also transported the evidence, tested the drugs and wrote an incident report.
Hayes’ alleged misconduct came up in the case because prosecutors are trying to make sure that the jury doesn’t hear about it.
As the trial nears, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a filing Thursday that it does not intend to call Hayes as a witness and argued it would be “improper” for defense attorneys to question her on the stand about her allegedly inappropriate relationship with a confidential informant.
“Officer Christina [Hayes] is currently under internal investigation for misconduct relating to her relationship with a confidential informant,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hillary Irvin and Sophia Cooper wrote. “That confidential informant was not involved in this case.”
Questions about the alleged misconduct would be “highly inflammatory and will serve only to mislead and confuse the jury,” the prosecutors wrote.
The filing was first reported by the website San Francisco Public Safety News.
But defense attorneys say the case should be tossed because of the alleged misconduct—and seem ready to bring Hayes into court if it isn’t.
The case “suffers from numerous infirmities and deficiencies of a constitutional magnitude—not the least of which is that the custodial officer of the drugs is under potential career-ending investigation for impeding a criminal investigation,” wrote Elizabeth Falk, a federal public defender.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not said if any of its other cases are under review or could be impacted due to the allegations against Hayes.
Julia Fox, Hayes’ attorney, did not respond to a request for comment. She has previously described Hayes as trustworthy and well-respected.