In 1921, the California Legislature passed the Public Defender Act after Clara Foltz, California’s first female lawyer, spent years advocating for the creation of Public Defenders’ offices to provide legal assistance to poor people in criminal law cases. Later in 1921, responding to the Public Defender Act, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance creating the Office of the Public Defender.

San Francisco is unique among the counties of San Francisco in having elected Public Defenders. There have been seven individuals who have served as Public Defender in the 90 years from 1921 to the present: Frank J. Egan, Gerald J. Kenny, Edward Mancuso, Robert Nicco, Jeff Brown, Kimiko Burton, and Jeff Adachi.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors appointed Frank J. Egan as the first Public Defender; his term commenced on October 15, 1921. He was elected to as Public Defender in August of 1922 and served in the position for ten years. Following Frank J. Egan’s removal from office, Gerald J. Kenny was appointed Public Defender in 1932 and subsequently elected.

In 1935 the Civil Grand Jury found that “The office of Public Defender, under the direction of Mr. Gerald J. Kenney, has been handled in a most efficient manner.” Kenney served as Public Defender for two decades, dying in office in 1954.

Edward Mancuso was appointed in 1954 by Mayor Elmer Robinson to complete Gerald Kenney’s term and the Public Defender began to represent indigent people accused of misdemeanors as well as those accused of felonies.

By the time of the Supreme Court’s 1963 decision in Gideon v. Wainwright which clarified the Constitutional mandate for public defenders, San Francisco had already had a Public Defender’s Office for over 40 years.

Upon the retirement of Edward Mancuso in 1974, Robert Nicco, who had been Chief Attorney under Mancuso was appointed Public Defender and then elected in November 1974. Under Robert Nicco’s tenure, the office’s diversity was broadened, including the hiring of Estella Wheatley Dooley, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office’s first African-American female employee, and Fred Smith, an African-American man who was Chief Deputy Attorney from 1974-1979.

When Robert Nicco chose not to run for Public Defender, Jeff Brown was elected Public Defender in 1978. Under Jeff Brown’s tenure as Public Defender, after decades of occupying cramped space in the Hall of Justice, the Office moved across Bryant Street into its current location at 555 7th Street in 1987.

Jeff Brown resigned from the Public Defender’s Office in 2001 and Kimiko Burton was appointed as Public Defender. In 2002 Jeff Adachi was elected as Public Defender, and following his swearing in as Public Defender in 2003, Jeff Adachi named Teresa Caffese as Chief Attorney, the first woman to serve in that role.

Jeff Adachi oversaw the creation of the Office’s Paralegal Unit and Clean Slate Program. In 2005 the Clean Slate Program, of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office received the Mayor’s Fiscal Advisory Committee’s Managerial Excellence Team Award and in 2006, Clean Slate received the California Public Defender’s Association Program of the Year Award. In 2006 Jeff Adachi received the American Bar Association’s Dorsey Award, honoring an outstanding public defender or legal aid lawyer. In 2007 Jeff Adachi received the California Lawyer of the Year Award.

In its 90 years of existence, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office has enabled countless people to exercise their constitutional right to counsel. The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office will be celebrating its 90th Anniversary with a private event on December 9, 2011.

Adachi noted that free legal representation is important because it prevents miscarriages of justice.

“The right to legal counsel in this country is a sacred constitutional right, and over the past 90 years, our office has grown from our humble beginnings to a world class team of lawyers, investigators, paralegals, and support staff who work tirelessly to provide high quality representation to those who cannot afford to hire a lawyer,” said Adachi.

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Ronnie Morrisette, 26, was acquitted of robbery, assault, false imprisonment, and four lesser charges. After a week-long trial, the jury deliberated for less than a day before reaching unanimous acquittals on all seven charges. If convicted, Morrisette faced up to six years in state prison.

In a chaotic scene, Morrisette was standing on the stairs to get off the 14-Mission Muni bus around 2:00AM on August 11, 2011. As the bus approached the stop at 9th and Mission, a never-identified young man snatched an iPhone out of passenger Rebecca Olarte’s hands and ran off the bus. In the thief’s haste, he bumped into Morrisette, knocking Morrisette’s phone and iPod to the ground. Olarte ran to chase after the thief and crashed into Morrisette, who was reaching down to pick up his items. Olarte, in the confusion, reached toward Morrisette’s phone and iPod and appeared to be holding something in her hands. Morrisette, who did not know that Olarte’s iPhone had been stolen, believed that Olarte took his phone and iPod, so he struggled to get his own property back.

Olarte, who admitted that she was intoxicated that night, believed that Morrisette was somehow involved in the theft of her iPhone. She testified that Morrisette was saying something to her during the struggle, but she could not remember what he said. Mr. Morrisette testified in his own defense. The only independent witness saw Morrisette struggling with Olarte over an object in her hand and corroborated everything Morrisette said happened.

Witnesses testified that Morrisette was dressed in bright flashy clothing, in happy mode, making friends, and was sharing drinks while on the bus. The actual thief went unnoticed, not speaking to anyone on the bus and dressed in dark clothing. There was never any evidence that Morrisette had ever spoken to the thief or got on the bus with him.

Public Defender Investigator Jill Schroeder testified that when she retrieved Morrisette’s property held by the jail, it included headphones, cell phone charger, and an iPod charger, proving he did have these items, although during the struggle Morrisette’s cell phone and iPod were lost and not recovered.

“Ronnie was a student at Wyotech College studying to be a motorcycle technician when he was wrongly arrested in connection with the theft of Ms. Olarte’s iPhone on Muni. Ronnie didn’t know the thief who took Ms. Olarte’s phone and had nothing to do with it. But because he was young and black, just like the thief, Ronnie was accused of involvement. After three months of sitting in jail, waiting for justice, an innocent man was finally vindicated by the jury and granted his freedom. Ronnie, his family, and his 7-year-old daughter are greatly relieved.” said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Peter Santina.

On the day of the acquittal, Ronnie Morrisette was released from the jail after midnight and went home. Thanks to the work of the Public Defender’s Office team of attorneys, investigators, paralegals and interns, an innocent man was kept out of prison.

Adachi said the first impressions of the incident were not borne out by further examination of the evidence.

“This case shows how easy it is for an innocent person to find themselves charged with a crime. Studies have shown that mistaken identification is the greatest cause of wrongful convictions.” Adachi said.

PDF: Public Defender press release 11/21/11

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Surveillance footage released at a news conference at the Public Defender’s office shows police responding to an August 16, 2011 call regarding two men arguing outside a Richmond District market. The video shows officers interrogating market owner Charles Tran, age 44, who was not involved in the fight and has no criminal history. Police then pushed Tran without provocation, slapped his hand, yanked his arm behind his back, handcuffed him, threw him against a wall, and kicked his legs out from beneath him, causing him to fall to the pavement. Tran was then handcuffed on the ground for 15 minutes in front of his store before being released. The report describing the incident was signed by police under penalty of perjury. In an apparent attempt to justify the excessive force, the report falsely described Tran as balling his fist and taking a fighting stance against the officer. This description cannot be reconciled with the video. Tran and his family filed a complaint against officers today with the Office of Citizen Complaints. The officers involved in the incident are Joseph Filamor, who used excessive force, and Kevin Ison, who wrote the false report.

“The manner in which Mr. Tran is treated by officers is unconscionable and unconstitutional. Creating a false report compounds the injury to Mr. Tran.” Adachi said. “It is further evidence of a police department culture that ignores residents’ rights and permits officers to perjure themselves in order to justify their conduct. The Police Commission recently ratified its commitment to Community Policing; abusing business owners at their place of work flies of the face of the stated policies of the Department.”

Today’s evidence follows a series of surveillance videos released by the Public Defender in March through May of this year showing systematic misconduct among officers, including illegal searches, excessive force, theft, and perjury. The revelations spawned an ongoing federal investigation.

The Public Defender renewed his call on the Chief and the Commission to establish a zero tolerance policy for officers found to have lied in police reports or to have committed theft. “In any other workplace employees lose their jobs for lying and stealing. We should hold police officers to at least the same standard as the general public.”

“When the video scandal surfaced, SFPD brass promised more honest policing. The termination of four officers this week suggests that the Commission will hold officers accountable for their actions. We therefore expect that the Commission will move swiftly to address these serious new charges. ”

The Public Defender’s Police Misconduct Unit released information today in five cases involving alleged theft by officers. The complaints implicate Mission Station officers – including Ricardo Guerrero, Peter Richardson, Jacob Fegan, Kevin Healy, and Robert Sanchez – in the thefts. Those officers were implicated in previous cases of misconduct, including an incident in which Guerrero is caught on video carrying a duffel bag filled with personal items out of a man’s hotel room. The man later reported the items missing and they were never booked into evidence.

The new complainants include:

• Rick Short, who alleges that officers stole $10,000 in cash from a safe in his bedroom during the execution of a search warrant on April 30, 2011. Short’s case has been dismissed. His story is corroborated by witnesses. Officers involved in his case are Michael Wibunsin, Peter Richardson, Ricardo Guerrero, Robert Sanchez, and Jacob Fegan.
• Joe Melvin, who was not charged with a crime, who alleges officers stole $300 and a Nokia Internet Tablet while he was detained during a search of his apartment in 2011. Melvin’s roommate was the subject of the search warrant. Officers involved in the search were Jacob Fegan, Ricardo Guerrero, Peter Richardson, Robert Sanchez, Kevin Healy, Jeffrey Cuenca, and John Cvetovac.
• Rosario Encarnacion Lopez Rodriguez, who was not charged with a crime, who alleges her brother’s watch, her nephew’s iPod and $2,300 – including $500 from her child’s piggy bank – was stolen by officers during a March 11, 2011 search warrant executed on her husband, Cervando Carvajal. Carvajal’s case has since been dismissed. Lopez’s claims are corroborated by witnesses. Officers involved in the search were Kevin Healy, Ricardo Guerrero, Peter Richardson, Robert Sanchez, Reynaldo Vargas, Jacob Fegan, and Adam Kujath.
• Brandon Stanton, whose $650 in cash disappeared after police conducted an August 4, 2010 raid on his roommate. Stanton was never charged in connection with the raid. His story is corroborated by witnesses. Officers involved in the search were Jacob Fegan, Ricardo Guerrero, Peter Richardson, Robert Sanchez, Kevin Healy, Britt Elmore, Reynaldo Vargas, David Sands, Robert Greiner, Matthew Kenney, John Cathey, Eileen Cooper, Michael Moody, Joseph Emanuel, Luis Oliva, Mario Molina, and Kenneth Esposto.
• Robert Karganilla, who claims police stole his Canon Powershot camera during a May 12, 2010 routine traffic stop. The Office of Citizen Complaints sustained his claim that police failed to book the camera into evidence. His camera has not been returned and he has not been compensated for his loss.

The Public Defender has compiled a body of information corroborating their statements. Two have passed a polygraph; we were unable to obtain conclusive results on three others. None were found to be deceitful. Further corroborating information is available upon request.

PDF: Public Defender Press Release Nov 3 2011 plus incident report and statement

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Jurors deliberated for one day before reaching their verdict Thursday afternoon, finding Diante Johnson, 23, not guilty of murder and attempted murder. Both charges carried gun enhancements.

The Daly City resident was accused of fatally shooting 23-year-old Marquez Benson and wounding another man Aug. 27, 2009 as the victims sat in a parked car at 9 a.m. in the Bayview District. U.S. Marshals arrested Johnson the following month in Ogden, Utah.

But evidence presented at the nearly three-week trial raised questions of the gunman’s identity and cast doubt on prosecutors, who withheld critical evidence until the eve of trial and claimed to have lost a tape that would have assisted in Johnson’s defense, said Johnson’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Eric Quandt.

Quandt also presented testimony from two eyewitnesses to the shooting who said the gunman had dreadlocks. Johnson has never had dreadlocks.

Quandt said the withholding of evidence likely troubled jurors and factored into their decision. At issue was a taped interview with a neighbor who saw a dreadlocked man in the area shortly before the shooting. The woman also told police that an acquaintance told her he witnessed the dreadlocked man exiting a nearby residence, walking to the parked car and shooting both victims.

Though the neighbor spoke to investigators in 2009, prosecutors withheld the exculpatory evidence until the week before opening statements. Additionally, they claimed the tape was lost and only provided Quandt with the investigator’s notes from the interview. The district attorney’s office then found and submitted the tape on the second day of trial. The missing evidence was the single interview in more than 30 tapes that contained information that could have exonerated Johnson, Quandt said.

The judge ruled that Quandt could explore the breech in front of the jury. Under questioning, prosecutors claimed they withheld the evidence out of fear for the neighbor’s safety.

“It’s an understandable position, but there’s a penal code provision that deals with these precise situations,” Quandt said. “They could have simply given the evidence to the judge and the judge would have ruled on whether it would be turned over to the defense. Instead, police investigators and prosecutors conspired to conceal the existence of the evidence for two years. It exposed the biased nature of the entire investigation and tainted the state’s case when the jury saw that prosecutors failed to follow the rules.”

Adachi applauded the jurors’ decision.

“Jurors must be able to trust that the case they hear is not tainted in any way – particularly if they are being asked to send someone to prison for life. In this case, there was also strong evidence that Mr. Johnson had been misidentified as the gunman,” Adachi said.

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Jurors deliberated for one day before finding Javon Morrow not guilty Wednesday of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors, and loitering in front of a nightclub, an infraction. Morrow faced up to two years in jail if convicted, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jack Lamar.

Morrow, 30, of San Jose, was arrested shortly after midnight on Nov. 20, 2010 in front of Horizon Restaurant and Lounge on Broadway Street. Moments earlier, an employee alerted a police officer that Morrow was loitering. Though Morrow had only been standing in front of the club, smoking, for five minutes, police gave him a loitering citation. Morrow told the officer he had a right to be there and refused to sign the ticket.

The officer claimed Morrow then ran 100 feet, turned around, hit him in the face, grabbed him by the collar and punched him in the ear several times, then grabbed the officer’s utility belt that contained his gun. The officer said he hit Morrow repeatedly in the face with his closed fist to force him to comply.

Two eyewitnesses who testified at the week-long trial, however, supported Morrow’s version of the story. Morrow and witnesses said that when he refused to sign the ticket, the officer forced Morrow’s arm behind his back and threw him face-first into the ground. The officer then turned Morrow around and punched him in the face several times, according to witnesses.

Photos presented at trial showed extensive bruising, cuts and scrapes on Morrow’s face. The officer, who claimed his glasses were broken during the scuffle, was photographed with his glasses intact and no injuries besides a minor scratch to the arm and slight redness on one ear.

“The jurors saw that the photo evidence simply didn’t back up the officer’s story,” Lamar said.

The police officer’s account was also contradicted by his partner, who testified at the trial.

“The jury did the right thing in acquitting Mr. Morrow,” Lamar said. “His arrest and beating wasn’t about justice, it was about retribution. The police officer was angry at Mr. Morrow for being defiant and he took it out him with his fists.”

Adachi said the case was an example of how eyewitness accounts may not match what is described in police reports.

“Fortunately for Mr. Morrow, two witnesses came forward. Their description of the incident held up under scrutiny in court, while the officer’s version of the story did not,” Adachi said.

Morrow is the third public defender client acquitted in the past two months of resisting arrest after police officers used excessive force. On July 22, Chris Christopher was found not guilty of five misdemeanors after police responded to his verbal barb by forcing him out of a car in a choke-hold. On July 19, Benjamin King was found not guilty of felony assault with a deadly weapon on an officer and misdemeanor resisting arrest. More about the Christopher and King cases can be found at http://bit.ly/pNJFc9 and http://bit.ly/riM2UN

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San Francisco father and Pop Warner coach Pasha Ali, 34, was acquitted Thursday of a felony charge of carrying a loaded, unregistered gun and a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon. The jury deliberated less than three hours before reaching its verdict, said Ali’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Danielle Harris.

Ali was arrested February 19, 2009 at the corner of San Bruno and Silver avenues. Ali, who uses marijuana on a medicinal basis to relieve pain from a chronic hand injury, had stopped at a popular local convenience store to get a sandwich, when he ran into an acquaintance who offered to sell him marijuana.  While talking to the man, another man pulled open Ali’s rear car door and offered to sell him a gun. Ali told the stranger he was not interested in buying a gun and seconds later, police pulled up, Harris said.

Both the man selling the marijuana and the man selling the gun took off, with the second man ditching the unregistered firearm in Ali’s back seat. Seeing the police approach and fearing for his safety, Ali quickly shoved the gun into a container in his center console. A subsequent search of Ali’s car turned up the firearm and he was arrested.

During the four-day trial, both Pop Warner football officials and Ali’s mother, a San Francisco Fire Department battalion chief, testified to his history of honest behavior.

“Ultimately, the jury agreed that this is not what we mean when we talk about someone illegally carrying a gun,” Harris said. “Someone dumped the gun on him and he made a split second decision to avoid the officers seeing a gun within reaching distance and perceiving him as a threat. Mr. Ali, in his shock and panic, thought he was doing the right thing at the time. He shouldn’t be branded a felon because of it.”

Adachi said the verdict illustrates that the facts in criminal cases must be carefully examined.

“This case goes to show that things aren’t always as they appear.  Fortunately for Mr. Ali, he was able to prove that there was a reasonable explanation for why he had possession of the gun,” he said.

Jurors deliberated over four hours before acquitting San Francisco resident Chris Christopher, 22, of delaying or obstructing an officer with threat of violence, battery on a police officer, and three counts of resisting arrest.

Christopher is the second public defender client acquitted this week of resisting arrest after police officers used excessive force. On Wednesday, 35-year-old Benjamin King was found not guilty of felony assault with a deadly weapon on an officer and misdemeanor resisting arrest. More about that case can be found at http://bit.ly/riM2UN

Christopher, who had no criminal record, was arrested April 9, 2010 at Newhall Street and La Salle Avenue in San Francisco’s Bayview District, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Erin Haney.

Christopher had been sitting in a legally parked car with a family friend when his mother spotted the pair and pulled up in her vehicle to chat.  A police officer approached Christopher’s mother, who was parked illegally, and asked for her identification.  Instead of ticketing her, however, the officer moved on to the legally parked car to question Christopher, who had committed no infraction, Haney said.

The officer asked Christopher his name, but expressed disbelief when the young man answered honestly with “Chris Christopher.”  When he asked again, an annoyed Christopher shot back, “What if I tell you it’s F— You?”

“It wasn’t respectful, but it was well within Mr. Christopher’s First Amendment rights,” Haney said. “There’s nothing in the penal code about having a smart mouth.  In fact, citizens in this nation are encouraged to speak out against government harassment and oppression.  The First Amendment protects that right, even when the speech is offensive.”

The officer became angry and a verbal argument ensued, Haney said. Police claimed Christopher reached under the seat and said, “How do you know I don’t have a gun? Cops get shot all the time?”  However, witnesses at the nearly two day trial testified Christopher never threatened the officer.

“Mr. Christopher knows that suggesting he has a gun and reaching for it is a death wish.” Haney said.  Additionally, witnesses testified to Mr. Christopher’s reputation for peace-keeping and non-violence in the community.

When police pushed Christopher’s mother and family friend out of the way, the young man exited the car and yelled at officers to take their hands off his mother. He then complied with police orders to get back into the vehicle.

“Several officers then extracted him from the car by choking him while his mother watched and screamed, ‘That’s my son. Stop it. He can’t breathe,’” Haney said.

Jurors voted not guilty after Haney argued that police had no right to detain Christopher, used excessive force and were not in lawful performance.

“This is your city,” Haney told jurors during her closing argument. “Mr. Christopher has the same rights you have. He has the same rights your son has. If this constitutes lawful performance, when then can Mr. Christopher ever walk out of his house and not be subject to police action? Mr. Christopher does not live in a police state.  In the Bayview, you have the same rights as you do in Pacific Heights.”

Adachi said this week’s two acquittals show that San Francisco juries will act to place limits on the authority of police.

“Mr. Christopher was rightfully exonerated in a case that was overcharged and over-exaggerated.  While using foul language in conversing with a police officer may not be polite, the jury found that it doesn’t justify five misdemeanor charges” Adachi said.

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Jurors deliberated two hours Wednesday afternoon before acquitting Benjamin King, 35, of San Francisco, of all charges.

King, who had no criminal record and worked two jobs as a barber and a delivery company employee, was arrested Aug. 23, 2009 as he commuted home from Oakland at 10 p.m. King had just stepped out of the Powell Street BART station and crossed Market Street outside of the crosswalk when a patrol car made a U-turn and two police officers advanced toward him.

“He was confused as to why he was being detained,” said King’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Mel Santos. “Mr. King saw no citation book. One of the officers grabbed him and Mr. King thought it must be a case of mistaken identity.”

King pulled away from the officer, Santos said, and when being told he was being detained for jaywalking, he expressed shock. He asked police to take their hands off him and have a conversation with him instead. King, who had enjoyed an after-work drink with a coworker, was told by police he smelled of alcohol and “was going to jail.”

One of the police officers then hit King with a baton with such force that the 36-inch weapon broke in half over King’s knee. One of the pieces of the baton landed in King’s hand and he instinctively struck back, hitting the officer in the neck before dropping the weapon, Santos said.

The other police officer then put King in a cartoid restraint, choking him into unconsciousness before handcuffing him, Santos said.

King was charged and released from jail on the condition he would attend anger management classes. He completed 65 classes despite never before having been accused of an anger problem, Santos said.

During King’s trial, both officers testified that they saw King walking outside the crosswalk and decided to “take him on.”

“They were using combat language—as if they were patrolling in Iraq instead of watching commuters near Union Square,” Santos said.

King is African American, though it wasn’t determined at trial whether race played a factor in his detention. Neither officer gave an explanation on why King was targeted while jaywalking goes mostly unenforced in San Francisco.

King also took the stand, along with his father and coworker, who testified to King’s gentle demeanor.  Santos also presented evidence that the two officers violated SFPD protocol governing the use of force. The policy mandates that officers use less severe options such as pepper spray and neck restraint before resorting to batons.

Adachi commended the jury’s decision.

“This was a clear case of self-defense against excessive force,” Adachi said. “Once police violated their own rules, their actions against Mr. King became unlawful. Mr. King was protecting himself against being more seriously hurt.”

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Jurors deliberated less than two hours before finding 41-year-old Eric Meoli not guilty of one misdemeanor count of possession of psilocybin mushrooms. His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Lutes-Koths, employed an unusual argument during the one-and-half day trial: Meoli had long forgotten about the mushrooms in his backpack, and therefore could not have knowingly possessed them.

“The elements of the law require that Mr. Meoli know about the illegal mushrooms in his possession,” Lutes-Koths said.

Meoli, a San Francisco cannabis club worker, was arrested at the Powell Street BART station May 25, 2011. BART police stopped Meoli for riding his bicycle on the platform and asked to search his backpack for identification. While searching a small internal pocket of the backpack, police found less than 4 grams of psilocybin mushrooms.

Meoli told police that a year earlier, he had given $10 of legally-obtained medical marijuana to “a hippy in Golden Gate Park” who was suffering from insomnia. The grateful, sleep-deprived hippy gave him the mushrooms in return. Meoli stated he had completely forgotten about the mushrooms.

Meoli, who has no prior convictions, testified during the trial, along with two BART police officers.

“Jurors took their deliberations very seriously and followed the law to the letter,” Lutes-Koths said.

Following the acquittal, a relieved Meoli assured jurors they would receive stellar customer service if they were ever to visit his cannabis club, Lutes-Koths said. Meoli faced up to a year in jail if convicted

In a second acquittal Thursday, a jury found 50-year-old Isabel Bracamonte not guilty of misdemeanor battery on a spouse or co-habitant.

It was the second trial for Bracamonte. One year earlier, jurors hung on the charge.

Bracamonte was arrested May 18, 2010 after being involved in a scuffle at the family’s San Francisco home. At the time, Bracamonte’s wife of more than 25 years told police he punched her in the chest, though she did not have any injuries, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Fatima Ortiz. A 911 call placed by the couple’s adult son makes no mention of punching and Bracamonte’s wife changed her story when speaking to inspectors the next day.

Bracamonte, who has no previous arrests for domestic violence or other crimes, maintained the physical altercation was between him and his adult son and that he never hit his wife. It was possible Bracamonte’s wife was inadvertently pushed when she tried to intervene between the two men, Ortiz said.

Since the arrest, Bracamonte had been required to stay away from his family, though he helped support them financially, Ortiz said. Both Bracamonte’s wife and son wanted to reconcile, she said.

Before acquitting Bracamonte, jurors heard testimony from the complaining witness, who said she had been gently pushed, but not punched. They also viewed photographs demonstrating the lack of injuries in the incident.

“This was a family that wanted to be reunited,” Ortiz said. “Being separated after more than two decades due to one unfortunate night was difficult for everyone.”

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Jurors deliberated five hours before finding Johnny Stone, 23, not guilty of one misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon. The jury hung on a second misdemeanor charge, carrying a loaded weapon. A third charge, possession of nunchaku, was dismissed by the judge after finding there wasn’t sufficient evidence for that charge to go to jury.

Stone, of Reno, was arrested Sept. 9, 2009 while visiting family members in the Sunnydale public housing projects. Stone, who had never been arrested, had reason to be fearful in the high-crime area, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Ariel Boyce-Smith. Stone had been robbed on a previous visit and his cousin had been shot in the ankle on the same block. After Stone arrived from Reno that day, he was startled by the sound of nearby gunshots.

Shortly after 9:30 p.m., Stone’s family asked him to retrieve baby food and diapers from his parked car for his crying niece. A relative offered to let the fearful visitor borrow her gun for the short trip, Boyce-Smith said.

When Stone went outside, he was approached by police officers who were searching for juvenile robbery suspects. Police asked if they could conduct a weapons search and Stone cooperated, immediately telling police he was carrying the gun. After securing the gun from Stone’s sweatshirt pocket, he was arrested.  A subsequent search of a nearby car police believed was Stone’s revealed nunchaku.

During the two-day trial, Stone testified about previous incidents at Sunnydale, including the gunshots he heard shortly before his arrest. Police confirmed that Sunnydale is a high crime area.

“The defense was one of necessity,” Boyce-Smith said. “It was clear Mr. Stone took the gun solely for protection. He was acting in an emergency and it was necessary for him to have the gun to protect himself from great bodily harm.”

Boyce-Smith said jurors took into account the frequent crime at Sunnydale and the low probability that had Stone called police, he would have been promptly provided with an armed escort to retrieve the baby food.

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said jurors relied on common sense.

“Mr. Stone’s fears about being robbed or hurt were justified by his prior experiences in the neighborhood,” Adachi said. “When his baby niece needed to be fed shortly after gunfire rang out, he considered it an emergency and took the precautions he felt were necessary.”