surprise testimony in san francisco today as the man

accused of killing tech executive and cash app founder bob lee took the witness stand in his own defense. good evening. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. thanks for joining us. many says he acted in self defense when his friend bob lee came at him with a knife. this was back in april of last year. >> abc seven news reporter melanie woodrow was in court. she joins us live with the details now. ama and dan jury, jurors and audience members were hanging on his every word. one of the only sounds in court today outside of his testimony was the sound of reporters furiously typing, trying to take down everything that he said. many testified that it was bob lee who attacked him with a knife. he said over a bad joke that he made. he described that joke as him saying to bob, if it were his last night in town, he'd be hanging out with his family and not expletive around in strip clubs, he said. bob lee went from 0 to 100 after hearing that he pulled a knife from his

pocket and attacked him. he described and demonstrated redirecting the knife back at bob lee and says at some point bob just walked away, unresponsive to nema, asking what had just happened. what's going on here? he says that he had no idea bob lee was fatally injured. nema said he walked back and picked up the knife, which was now on the ground, and threw it over the caltrans fence. but he couldn't explain why he did that in his testimony. he also expressed remorse to bob lee's family, saying that even though bob attacked him, he didn't deserve that. on cross-examination, the prosecutor hammered nema about the idea that bob lee, a beloved man in the tech world, wanted to kill him over a bad joke. he asked nema about the coincidences in his story that he just happened to leave his car at his mom's house after the murder, as well as the jacket that he was wearing the night of the murder. the prosecutor also asked question after question after question about his mom and

his text to her brother. the day of bob's murder, calling him psychotic. a lunatic threatening to call the police on him. his answer was that she was erratic and emotional, and that's just how she is. that's how they bicker. i asked bob lee's brother oliver about nima's testimony. >> he obviously did a lot of damage. his own credibility today, and just seeing him get angry and stuff on the stand. i'm feeling you know, that's what my brother saw that night, right? it's him getting angry. and him, you know, his story makes no sense to me. and i don't think it makes any sense to the jury either. it's completely. there's, you know, it changes as well as just. it's just not objectionably or, you know, objectively plausible. >> remember the burden of proof here lies with the prosecution. they must prove to jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that nema momenti killed bob lee. the judge in this case has allowed jurors to ask questions after

every witness's testimony, and no doubt these jurors are likely to have a lot of questions for nema. his testimony continues tomorrow with continued cross-examination. reporting live outside of the hall of justice in san francisco, melanie woodrow, abc seven news. >> all right, melanie, thanks very much. a man is dead after a stabbing this morning near the embarcadero bart station in san francisco. the victim was found in the middle of market street just before 6 a.m. and the station was closed as police searched for a suspect. it reopened at about 630. a business owner tells abc7 news surveillance video shows the man coming from beale street stumbling, and then collapsing at market and main. no arrests have been made yet, and you can get detailed information about what crime is like where you live with our abc7 neighborhood safety tracker. it includes information and trends for san francisco, oakland and san jose. just look for it on our website, abc7 news.com or on our app as well. now to a story we've been

following for more than a year. >> the effort to end sex trafficking in san francisco's mission district. now, a new effort by san francisco police aims to curb illegal sex work. abc seven news anchor dion lim is here with the unusual tactic police are using. dion. yeah. >> hi there. in san francisco's mission district, there have been multiple efforts to curb prostitution and sex trafficking in the past. but a combination of community assistance, new technology, and old fashioned letters aims to make a difference. >> hundreds of sex workers walking the streets that were pimps, johns, the traffic was bumper to bumper. >> prostitution problems have plagued certain san francisco neighborhoods for years, and efforts such as barriers to prevent the activity along capp and shotwell streets have failed. time and time again. >> i think they suck, and they're inconvenient. >> you may remember our coverage after these metal barriers were installed along capp street. not only did they cause confusion and increase illegal parking, you're going to get a ticket. they were eventually run over and destroyed. as the plight of the neighborhood reached a fever pitch, some even filed a lawsuit

against the city for what they saw as inaction. >> i hope the city does something about it. >> which brings us to today and the effort launched by sfpd called the dear john letter program, an effort already being used in dozens of cities across the country, including oakland and los angeles. >> i want to talk directly to the people who are soliciting prostitution in our communities. >> here's how it works. community members first submit photos of alleged prostitution activity to an sfpd website. >> the sfpd will then issue a letter to the registered owner of the vehicle with the photograph. we hope this will be a deterrent in this sample letter provided to me by sfpd. >> recipients are reminded how solicitation is illegal and why it's harmful to the sex worker and the city. a photograph may also be attached, which may also serve another purpose. >> receiving a dear john letter may also cause some uncomfortable moments at home. >> sfpd tells me since the program soft launched a few weeks ago, several dozen letters have been sent out. uncomfortable moments. now,

something else to add is one of the city's new live view technology cameras, along. shotwell is also being credited for helping with this crackdown. we'll, of course, keep following the story and see if those efforts pay off. i'm dion lim, back to you. >> okay. thanks very much, dion. it was a rainy day, as you know, across parts of the bay area maybe where you live. the umbrellas were out in san francisco. windshield wipers were working overtime in larkspur. the highest totals. so far have been in the north bay, as you can see from this video. and here's a live look at the conditions right now. so for details, let's go to abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel. sandy, kind of nice to see the rain. yeah, absolutely. >> and nice to see dan the snow in the mountains. take a look at this. live picture from the sierra where it is looking like winter for this time of year. i do want to show you live doppler seven. the sierra is seeing snow northern california seeing rain, and we still have some spotty showers that are showing up. so as i get you into radar here, live doppler seven kelseyville area. seeing some damp roadways

at this hour. widening the picture. this level one storm is not completely done with us yet. behind the front we have cool, unstable air that is going to come in. so tonight we're just looking at isolated showers at 8 p.m. but tomorrow we're going to be seeing some more showers popping up tomorrow in the morning, going into the afternoon. so this is a one on our storm impact scale today and tomorrow. scattered showers, breezy conditions and tomorrow we're going to introduce also large breaking waves and the potential for minor coastal flooding due to the king tides. i'll be back with a full look at the timeline plus the next system that is due in this weekend. coming right up. >> all right. thank you so much, sandhya. happening now. the oakland school board is meeting to discuss how to cut costs and close a $78 million projected deficit. one of the plans being considered is the possibility of merging these schools that you see on the map, since they already share campuses. but some parents warn the mergers are a short term fix to a growing

budget problem. abc seven news reporter anser hassan has more. >> reporter as parent rochelle lopez sandoval picks up her son from manzanita community school, she's bracing for big changes that could impact the school. >> we don't want it. we're happy how things are. we appreciate all the resources. manzanita has. >> lopez sandoval is part of the school's parent leadership committee. what they don't want is to merge their school with the school next door. the oakland unified school district is facing a $78 million projected budget deficit, which will balloon to almost double in the next four years. it needs to cut costs. the district says. part of the problem ousd faces declining enrollment and operating too many schools, especially compared to districts of similar size. the district says in 2003, it had just over 50,000 students. in 2023, close to 34,000. and that would cost the district $3.7 billion to repair all oakland schools. the district says consolidating ten schools into five would save

upwards of $3 million. >> they just have different goals, and it's not that either one is better than the other. they're just different playing levels. >> i feel like to those on the outside, it may make sense to simply merge two elementary schools that already share the same location. but lopez sandoval says that can be deceiving. to begin with, manzanita seed school is a dual immersion school. english, spanish and the two schools may have different goals and objectives based on the community needs. >> we don't know what that school would bring to the table or what, like what would it be taken from the schools? how are you going to mix two different schools and say that they're going to keep both curriculums separate? i just don't see how it's realistic. >> kamala harris, president of the oakland teachers union. she says the deeper analysis of the budget suggests the deficit may not be as big as the district claims, and that it's too soon to rush to merge schools. >> the $300 million cash reserve that they have currently will actually cover any of those modest deficits. so we actually kind of are concerned about the

analysis that they have. >> district officials were not available for comment. a final vote would come in december in oakland, anser hassan, abc seven news. >> in washington, governor newsom is calling donald trump's threats to withhold disaster relief from california pretty childish. today, newsom referenced his meeting with biden on tuesday when asked about threats from trump during the campaign cycle about withholding disaster aid from blue states like california. newsom says last week, biden offered to support california's wildfire recovery efforts in ventura county, with no conditions. >> that's not the state of mind of donald trump. and that's not just rhetoric. it's not just threats. those are actions by donald trump in the past. and i guess that's what people voted for. but i got to tell you, a lot of folks will be hurt if we don't push back. and so we're going to we're going to be firm. >> so why not start today? >> the governor met privately with california's congressional democrats to prepare for the

trump administration's expected plan to roll back liberal policies in the state. >> coming up, the former east bay pastor charged with the sexual abuse of four girls was back in court today, and he changed his plea. abc seven news i-team reporter dan noyes originally broke the story and was in court for it al

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and child molestation involving five young victims. >> we first investigated this case a year ago when the primary victims family came to the i-team complaining that police wouldn't return their calls. >> abc seven news i-team reporter dan noyes was back in martinez in the courtroom there this morning to hear details of this plea deal.

>> reporter as jane doe number one gave her victim impact statement, she began crying hard and her parents rose to stand by her side for support. >> i saw no way out and all of this torture in my head, in my mind, in my body, in my health. why? because he's supposedly a pastor. >> 54 year old victor hernandez pineda was arrested almost a year ago after the i-team investigated complaints from several families that the pastor at richmond's iglesia pentecostal movimiento de gloria had sexually abused their daughters. the father of jane doe number one was an elder at the church. that's him getting a hug from the pastor. >> he said that i was his friend. he said that i was his right hand man. but when i found out, he made me so, so angry. >> after hearing similar accounts from several young women, the pastor did not return my calls. so i confronted him outside church before a sunday morning service. victor, i'm dan noyes from channel seven. i need

to talk to you. would you do an interview with me, please? uh- about what? i'd like to talk to you about the accusations that young girls and young women are making against you of sexual abuse. will you talk to me, please? the pastor didn't say a word, just made that gesture when i mentioned complaints of sexual abuse, his adult daughter and son pushed me out of the way and blocked my camera as he pulled up the window. they were all there in court to see jane doe number one confront hernandez pineda. >> i know for me, and if you don't stop this person with absolute justice, there will continue to be more victims. >> the pastor agreed to a plea deal that will give him seven years in prison for felony forcible rape of a child victim over 14 and four misdemeanor counts of child molest with four different victims. those sentences to be served concurrently. >> and what is your plea? >> guilty after court. jane doe number one. and her parents told

me the pastor deserved more than seven years in prison. but they are glad this step is over. hernandez pineda's final sentencing will be in february. for the i-team in martinez, dan noyes abc seven news. >> coming up here preparing for the winter weather forecast in the south bay. you're going to

but today, officials are urging people to take this time to prepare for winter storms. abc seven news reporter dustin dorsey has more. >> the sun may be shining, but when it comes to weather in santa clara county, we know that no matter how sunny and warm it might be out here today, just a few weeks from now, we may face very different conditions life threatening conditions we've seen in the south bay. year after year, major flooding events that put the community at

risk. those years, we knew there was a strong potential for storms and rain, heavy atmospheric rivers. but this year, the national weather service says things are looking different. >> right now, the official forecast is what we call equal chances. the way i like to couch that, it's the meteorological equivalent of a shrug. like we just don't quite know. >> the last two winters, the national weather service could say with certainty when storms would hit the region. this year, it will be more difficult to predict storms. so they will need to make predictions closer to the actual weather events making landfall. >> we're going to be anywhere from just below normal for the amount of precipitation for the season, or near normal for the amount of precipitation for the season. that said, all of that precipitation can come in 1 or 2 storms, and that's the reason we're talking about preparedness. >> and that work is already underway. while you may have been on vacation this summer, valley water wasn't. they were busy performing maintenance on creeks, rivers and streams to prevent flooding. but should water levels rise, that's where

sandbags come into play for the community. >> when a dry year, we've used about 80,000 bags, on a dry year, it's 80,000. on a year like 2020 two inches 2023, when we had those big rain rainstorms, we actually used about 200,000 bags. >> valley water distributed 140,000 bags last year and prepared to distribute to those who need it. in the months ahead, the agency recommends packing your emergency kits now with all the essential items you'll need, and it's time to sign up for emergency weather alerts for your specific county. >> our climate is changing, and we all need to prepare for storms and the potential for floods. >> staying ready so you don't have to get ready. the winter weather motto in san jose dustin dorsey, abc seven news. >> stay ready. that's great. 200,000 sandbags. all right, let's get another check on the weather. we had a little rain today. >> yeah, some spots. saw it, sandhya. others? not so much. yeah. you know, the focus was really on the north bay, but there were raindrops all the way down to the santa cruz

mountains. believe it or not, guys. good evening to you all. let me show you the rainfall. so far, venado. picking up almost three quarters of an inch. this is in the far northern end of sonoma county. 2/10 in santa rosa. richmond, kentfield you can see measurable rain. san francisco 100th. ben loman a 10th of an inch. now official rain totals will be coming down shortly. i'll have those for you later on tonight as we look at live doppler seven, we are still tracking some spotty showers right now across cloverdale highway 101, geysers road, taking you into street level radar as we take you back in time. we had a line of showers go through just enough to dampen the roadways. as you can see here, and certainly has been snowing in our mountains, which we will take any time. the low and the energy is still to our north, but the front has come through now. behind it we have all these speckled clouds indicating the colder, unstable air. so that's why the showers are going to continue ahead of it. we're seeing the waves getting picked up right now. 12 footers at point arena tomorrow a high surf advisory goes up in

the morning. it runs until saturday morning. large breakers 12 to 18ft is going to raise the risk of any dangerous swimming and surfing conditions. so watch out for that. king tides are coming up. coastal flood advisory tomorrow morning until monday afternoon. tomorrow morning at 926, low lying areas could see flooding 6.7ft as the high tide. so watch out for that. you know the park and rides also tend to flood in the north bay, so it's another place to look out for 50s and 60s on your temperatures right now. live view from san jose, where we're still seeing a lot of cloud cover through tomorrow. occasional showers next few days. we have rough surf and king tides to look out for, and your weekend outlook is a sunny start, but rain by sunday evening. today and tomorrow we have a light level one system, so today is really the showers. the concern is the showers. tomorrow we're going to introduce a chance of thunder along with the large breakers and minor coastal flooding. here is the thunderstorm risk. it's not just for northern california. the entire bay area

is under that risk, which means there's a possibility of thunderstorms looking hour by hour. we're going to track some spotty showers. 6 to 10 p.m. tonight. tomorrow morning we start out with some damp roadways and there is potential. like i said, for some thunderstorm activity. so keep that in mind going into the afternoon and evening. early friday morning could be a pop up shower or two, but overall we're not looking at uh. that's really interesting. all the rainfall totals disappeared. we're not looking at any of this to be heavy duty and widespread rainfall projections through friday. i'm going to tell you what it's going to be anywhere from a few hundredths in the southern part of our viewing area, to about an inch in the northern part. winter weather advisory until 10 p.m. friday, 6 to 12in above 5500ft. with those gusty winds, watch out for hazardous travel and carry the chains 40s and 50s tomorrow morning. watch out for the damp roadways. tomorrow afternoon it's going to be sun, clouds, a pop up shower, maybe thunder, 50s and 60s on your highs. the

accuweather seven day forecast. it's a level one for tomorrow. we're going to basically dry out for the first half of your weekend saturday and then the second half and other storms coming in. it's also a level one. we will get milder weather and brighter skies tuesday and wednesday of next week. >> okay. great santa. thank you. >> san francisco's contemporary jewish museum is closing for at least a year because of financial difficulties. the museum, which sits on mission between third and fourth streets, will close to the public on december 15th. people can still check out the exhibits until then, in a message posted on its website. the museum says the closure is not permanent, just a pause. >> all right. still ahead, a new discovery from the depths of the ocean. we're going to introduce you to the mysterious glowing sea slug just found by the monterey bay aqu

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i'm luz pena. >> i'm tara campbell. i'm j.r. >> stone at abc7 news. >> we deliver local stories with real answers to help make our city better.

>> researchers with the monterey bay aquarium have discovered a new type of sea slug in the deep sea. it's been nicknamed mystery mollusk by the team, and it's a type of nudibranch. they've studied more than 150 sightings over the past 20 years, from remotely operated dives. researchers say they have made the most comprehensive description of a deep sea animal ever made. they say it's lit up by bioluminescence and catches crustaceans like a venus fly trap. >> what is deep in our oceans is so strange. >> and so it's incredible. >> yeah. wow. that's cool. all right. don't forget, we have much more news ahead at 530. over on the stream. >> if you're watching us on tv, world news tonight is next with david muir. for all of us.

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