James Spingola outside the courtroom for the arraignment of Sheryl Davis at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, April 2, 2026.
Minh Connors/For the S.F. Chronicle
A man who showed up to a once powerful San Francisco city official’s first criminal court appearance Thursday disguised in a surgical mask and balaclava was none other than her co-defendant in a case that centers around their furtive relationship.
James Spingola, the former director of the nonprofit Collective Impact, attended the hearing where ex-San Francisco Human Rights Commission Executive Director Sheryl Davis pleaded not guilty during her arraignment on felony charges.
James Spingola outside the courtroom for the arraignment of Sheryl Davis at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, April 2, 2026.
Minh Connors/For the S.F. Chronicle
Spingola donned a sweater and leather jacket along with a light-colored mask over his nose and mouth and the close-fitting black balaclava that covered his head on a warm, sunny day in the city’s South of Market district.
Article continues below this ad
He said he was ill when a Chronicle reporter addressed him by name and asked him for comment as he followed Davis and a throng of supporters out of the courthouse as a scrum of journalists waited nearby.
“Let me tell you something,” Spingola said. “I have COVID. Give me my space. Give me my space.”
San Francisco Chronicle Logo
Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.
Add Preferred Source
He then raised his middle finger at a Chronicle photographer taking a picture of him.
James Spingola makes a gesture after the arraignment of Sheryl Davis at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, April 2, 2026.
Minh Connors/For the S.F. Chronicle
His decision to obscure his identity at the courthouse was a remarkable choice for someone whose criminal case revolves around the alleged conflict of interest created by his once undisclosed co-habitating relationship with Davis, who funded his nonprofit under a landmark city program she was leading to invest tens of millions of dollars a year into the Black community.
Article continues below this ad
“I don’t have any reason to believe he would wear a disguise because many people know who he is and he has not been secretive about his connection to Sheryl Davis,” Randy Knox, Spingola’s attorney, told the Chronicle Thursday afternoon. “If he flipped off the photographer, I would consider that to be unwise and unnecessary.”
Sheryl Davis, a former San Francisco Human Rights commission head, leaves the Hall of Justice after her arraignment in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, April 2, 2026.
Minh Connors/For the S.F. Chronicle
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins filed a raft of felony financial misconduct charges against Davis on Monday over numerous alleged conflicts of interest, the misspending of city funds and what her office called “pervasive” self-dealing by Davis. Spingola is accused of aiding and abetting her in her alleged financial conflict-of-interest crimes.
Davis and Spingola lived and traveled together and shared bank accounts and a car, according to the district attorney. Davis signed city contracts awarding his nonprofit $1.5 million in city contracts in 2021 and 2022, but never disclosed to the city her financial interests in Collective Impact or her close relationship with Spingola, prosecutors said.
After pleading not guilty to all of the charges, Davis declined to comment outside court. Her supporters escorted her to a waiting SUV, shielding her from the media.
Article continues below this ad
Her attorney, Tony Brass, said it was “nonsense” for the city to act surprised about Davis’ connection to Collective Impact, since she was previously its executive director before Mayor Ed Lee hired her as a city department head leading the Human Rights Commission.
“Sheryl Davis used all the tools that she had which were not given to her by the city to get the money into the right hands,” Brass said. “She was the one asking for transparency, she was the one asking for accountability.”
“If she was profiting from the system,” he said, “why would she have ever done that?”
Spingola surrendered Monday morning and spent two nights in jail until a judge released him Wednesday at his first court appearance. He has not entered a plea.
Article continues below this ad
St. John Barned-Smith contributed to this report.