SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge says the family of a man and his two sons who were murdered by an illegal immigrant can take San Francisco to state court.
Tony Bologna and his sons, 20-year-old Michael and 16-year-old Matthew, were shot to death in June 2008. Edwin Ramos, a 22-year-old illegal immigrant, is charged with murdering them.
Ramos, allegedly a gang member, was arrested twice as a minor. Instead of being turned over to immigration authorities, he was sent to shelters.
The federal judge rejected the Bologna family's claim that the city's actions violated the shooting victims' constitutional right to due process.
But she ruled Friday that Bologna's widow and daughter can go to state court with a suit alleging the city is to blame for their deaths for failing to hand Ramos over to immigration authorities.