On September 12, 2021, Attorneys Matt Gonzalez and Francisco Ugarte published an article on Medium titled “An Open Letter to the Biden Administration: It’s time to drop charges against José Ines García Zárate” whom they represented in state court when he was charged and acquitted of the murder of Kate Steinle. The new editorial argues...Read More

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office released previously unseen video surveillance footage of what happened the morning of March 17, 2021, at UN Plaza, when SF Defender client Steven Jenkins was arrested for hitting Xiao Zhen Xie at the corner of Market and 7th Streets. KTVU’s Andre Torrez reports on the video showing Mr. Jenkins...Read More

Attorneys urge Gov. Newsom to stop involuntary transfers from San Quentin prison After a Federal Judge ordered the population of San Quentin State Prison to be reduced by 50% in order to protect people from the coronavirus which has claimed the lives 28 incarcerated people and 1 corrections officer at the facility, advocates learned that...Read More

Lisa Fernandez of KTVU FOX 2 reported: California ICE detention center officials ignored COVID-19 protocols: attorneys after attorneys in the ongoing Zepeda-Rivas class action lawsuit against ICE discovered new documents showing how staff at the Mesa Verde detention center in Bakersfield, CA – operated by the private prison corporation GEO Group – failed to follow...Read More

Lisa Fernandez of KTVU FOX 2 News reported: Appeals court orders San Quentin to reduce population citing ‘deliberate indifference’ over virus. She interviewed Danica Rodarmel, statewide policy director for the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, who is one of the attorneys working on a separate case of habeas corpus on behalf of over 300 petitioners...Read More

Lawyers for nearly 50 men incarcerated at San Quentin sue over ‘botched transfer,’ demand release By Lisa Fernandez, KTVU FOX 2, August 17, 2020 As of Monday, San Quentin had about 3,100 people in custody and San Francisco Asst. Public Defender Danica Rodarmel said she wanted that number to drop to at least 1,550. To...Read More