“I am extremely disturbed to learn of Sheriff Miyamoto’s plans to move up to 100 people currently held in the San Francisco County Jail to Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County. Nearly 50 people have died in Santa Rita Jail in the last 5 years, and the jail has been deemed by East Bay Express...Read More

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – On February 27, 2020, in front of a crowd of over 300 people at Brava Theater, San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju took his oath of office and pledged his service to the community as part of the annual Black History Month Celebration of the Public Defender’s Office. His oath was...Read More

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – On February 25, 2020, a jury acquitted a former Lyft driver, Vincent Perrault, 46, of assault charges related to an incident in which he acted in self-defense when confronted in the street by intoxicated passengers whom he asked to exit his car around 2:00am on December 27, 2016, after they were...Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – On January 31, 2020, a jury acquitted Troylene Trammell, 57, of vehicular manslaughter, finding Ms. Trammell was not negligent. The tragic accident on a March 2017 night took the life of a woman crossing an unregulated crosswalk at Mission and Ney Streets. Jurors learned that the crosswalk was positioned mid-block, with no...Read More

This ground-breaking decision marks the first time a federal judge in California held that the government must justify detention in initial immigration bond hearings. San Francisco, California — On January 23, 2020, Federal Judge Edward Davila for the Northern District of California ruled that the government’s 2018 bond proceeding for Mario Ixchop Perez, a father...Read More

Immigration Courts Move Bay Area Immigration Cases from San Francisco to Southern California San Francisco and Alameda County Public Defenders condemn decision to remove detention cases out of San Francisco as interfering with their ability to defend detainees, demand transparency and seek a halt to recent decision  San Francisco, California — The Trump Administration announced this week...Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – On Monday, January 6, 2020, a jury acquitted Vihn Tran, 38, of felony charges related to a nighttime attack near Union Square in October 2018. Deputy Public Defender Seth Meisels presented evidence undermining the identification of Tran during what Meisels called a poorly run investigation by the San Francisco Police Department. After...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 3, 2020 SF PUBLIC DEFENDERS FILE RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST I.C.E. FOR CHRISTMAS NIGHT TRANSFER OF TRANSGENDER IMMIGRANT DETAINEE TO TEXAS, WHERE SHE IS BEING HELD IN ISOLATION SAN FRANCISCO, CA — On Friday, January 3, 2020 the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order against Immigration...Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, on December 4, 2019, the San Francisco District Attorney dismissed all charges against Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was accused of murder and other charges relating to the tragic death of Kate Steinle in July 2015.  It took the criminal justice system four and a half years to reach this conclusion,...Read More

When an SF man was kicked out of a residential treatment program for taking a cookie without asking, Drug Court gave him two choices, go back and start all over again or spend six months in county jail. He chose jail. SAN FRANCISCO – On Monday, December 2, 2019, Gregory Fields, 42, was remanded to...Read More