San Francisco Public Defender

2011

• Matt Gonzalez, a longtime civil rights and criminal defense attorney and former Board of Supervisors president, was appointed to Chief Attorney of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office.
• Public Defender Jeff Adachi released a series of surveillance videos showing police falsified police reports to justify searching residences without warrants or consent, used excessive force and appeared to steal belongings from citizens. The footage resulted in dozens of dismissed cases and an ongoing federal investigation.
• Jan Lecklikner, a longtime San Francisco public defender in the office’s Juvenile Unit, was named Defender of the Year by the California Public Defenders Association.
• On the heels of major change in San Francisco’s law enforcement leadership, the 2011 Public Defender’s Justice Summit: Justice By The Book, attracted the most diverse group of speakers in the event’s history to discuss the city’s most challenging and controversial criminal justice issues.
• Working hand-in-hand with the ACLU, Deputy Public Defender Anne Irwin successfully argued for a judge to end the San Francisco Housing Authority’s use of city-wide nuisance injunctions and dismiss all pending criminal cases against alleged violators.
• The Public Defender’s Office celebrated its 90^th anniversary.

2010

• San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi was named Defender of the Year by the California Public Defenders Association.
• Teresa Caffese, chief attorney for the Public Defender’s office, was honored by the Daily Journal as one of the state’s top 100 women litigators.
• The Public Defender launched an anti-bias campaign featuring a :30 video PSA to remind people of their Constitutional right of presumed innocence.
• Public Defender Jeff Adachi led the call for an independent investigation amid allegations that a longtime police crime lab technician tampered with drug evidence and withheld her criminal record.
• Felony attorneys won favorable outcomes in nearly 80 percent of their trials.
• The San Francisco-based Women’s Intercultural Network honored Public Defender Jeff Adachi with its Jedi Knight Award for “men of good will” who have supported women’s issues and social justice in California.
• Misdemeanor attorneys won favorable outcomes in 66 percent of their trials.
• San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi was among the featured speakers at U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s national conference on criminal defense for the poor.
• The Public Defender’s Juvenile Unit ensured no minor was sent to state lock-up.
• The Public Defender’s Justice Summit, devoted to exposing and preventing every day injustice, featured experts on wrongful conviction, prosecutorial misconduct and media, as well as bestselling authors, law professors, reporters and celebrity attorneys.
• Paralegals implemented a new training program that vastly increased the office’s productivity by supporting attorneys in hundreds of cases.
• Public Defender’s Mental Health Unit introduces a pilot program that allows those under a mental health conservatorship to be placed in the community, minimizing their interactions with the criminal justice system.
• Behavioral Health Court was nationally recognized in the Los Angeles Times for its 39 percent reduction in re-arrests, leading all four cities examined as part of a five-year study funded by the MacArthur Foundation to determine whether mental health courts reduce recidivism and violence.
• A record 3,500 people expunged their records through the Public Defender’s Clean Slate program.
• Public Defender clerks pulled 1,800 files in addition to their regular duties during the San Francisco Crime Lab scandal.

2009

• More than 400 attorneys, community leaders and concerned citizens attended the 2009 Justice Summit: Defending the Public and the Constitution to show their support for public defense.
• The Children of Incarcerated Parent’s program, which provides assistance and services to children of a parent who is incarcerated, receives the California Public Defender’s Association’s annual Program of the Year award.
• In  August 2009, the office’s MAGIC program provided more than 4,500 backpacks to at its annual Back to School Celebration and Backpack Giveaway.
• The office completed beta testing on its Gideon case management and data system,which awaits full implementation in 2011
• In December, the Clean Slate program celebrated its 10 year anniversary. The program has helped more than 15,000 people clear their criminal records since 1999.
• The office tried a record number of jury trials – 250 in 2009. More than 51 percent of all felony trials and 41 percent of misdemeanor trials resulted in no conviction.

2008

• AB 2377, a bill that would have reduced defense access to records of police misconduct, is pulled in response to a targeted legislative advocacy campaign initiated by Public Defender Jeff Adachi.
• After video evidence from San Francisco safety cameras helps exonerate several Public Defender’s Office clients, the Board of Supervisors ratifies legislation to allow defense attorneys easier access to footage.
• The Board of Supervisors passes an ordinance formalizing the Reentry Council. The first of its kind in the nation, the Council will serve as an advisory board to the Mayor in prisoner reentry.
• Chief Attorney Teresa Caffese is recognized as one of California’s Top 75 Women Litigators by the San Francisco Daily Journal.
• The Public Defender’s Office published a client guide to the criminal justice system in English and Spanish. Nearly 4,000 copies are distributed.

2007

• The Office successfully opposed the inclusion of three non-gang members in two civil injunctions filed against San Francisco gangs.
• The Office opened its 5th Clean Slate Program satellite office, helping English and Spanish speaking San Francisco residents clear their criminal records.
• Public Defender Adachi received the 2007 California Lawyer of the Year Award.
• Over 375 activists, educators and lawmakers convened at the Safe Communities Reentry Council 2nd Annual Reentry Summit at San Francisco State University to discuss improvement of services for formerly incarcerated individuals.

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