San Francisco, CA – A 26-year-old San Francisco woman was acquitted twice by two separate juries. Tried twice over a one-month period, the woman had been charged by prosecutors with loitering with the intent to commit prostitution on June 8, 2007 and October 23, 2007 in San Francisco. Prosecutors argued that the woman had been...Read More

By Jeff Adachi Published in The Recorder, Friday, April 18, 2008 Following the California Supreme Court decision that barred the public from police disciplinary proceedings, Copley Press v. Superior Court, 39 Cal.4th 1272 (2006), lobbyists for police and sheriffs organizations have worked to convince state legislators to introduce new laws that would further shield law...Read More

AB 2377 would have made it more difficult for criminal defendants to access records of police misconduct that are material to their defense. Public Defender Jeff Adachi submitted a letter opposing AB 2377 to the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Mary Hayashi, and to members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Read Public Defender Adachi’s letter to Assemblymember Jose...Read More

by Jeff Adachi March 20, 2008, featured on BeyondChron.org San Francisco’s gang problem is not new. In the 1850s, the “Sydney Ducks,” a gang of ex-cons from Australia, reportedly committed countless murders, robberies, assaults, and arsons in Sydney-Town, an area that encompassed much of today’s Financial District. A group called the “Committee of Vigilance” responded...Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Paul Addis, once accused of attempting to set fire to San Francisco’s historic Grace Cathedral has been released from custody after pleading no contest to reduced misdemeanor charges. Addis had originally been charged with a felony count of attempted arson, felony charges of possessing explosives and incendiary devices, and a misdemeanor count...Read More

San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Behavioral Health Court (BHC) has been selected by the Council on Mentally Ill Offenders (COMIO) to receive a 2008 Best Practices Award. BHC was one of three projects selected for this statewide honor. BHC redirects mentally ill offenders from jail and into intensive case management programs in the...Read More

San Francisco, CA – Public Defender Jeff Adachi has been named a recipient of the 2007 California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) Award. California Lawyer magazine will recognize Public Defender Adachi for the impact of his work in the field of prisoner reentry. The recipients of the CLAY Awards are featured in the March 2008...Read More

As published in  The Recorder, February 4, 2008. by Evan Hill Prompted by a case out of the public defender’s office, a San Francisco supervisor is pushing to change the rules on accessing the city’s surveillance camera footage. Gerardo Sandoval, a former deputy public defender, presented the legislation to the board on Jan. 8, but off-stage...Read More

San Francisco, CA – In a letter addressed to the Board of Supervisors, the Public Defender’s Office, the ACLU of Northern California (“ACLU-NC”) and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (“LCCR”) requested today that the City enact a policy to ensure that all persons named in San Francisco gang injunctions are given the opportunity to...Read More

As published in The Recorder, December 18, 2007. By Mike McKee. Eighteen years after Dennis Lawley was sentenced to death, evidence literally unearthed last week in a field outside Modesto could bolster defense lawyers’ argument that their client is truly innocent. Scott Kauffman, a staff attorney at the San Francisco-based California Appellate Project, confirmed Monday...Read More