News and Press Releases

Today, the SF Public Defender’s Office released police body-worn camera footage showing SFPD officers brutally beating and kneeling on the head and neck of 33-year-old Kevon Gibson, who was hospitalized for several days after the incident in August 2025. The Public Defender’s Office also revealed how the District Attorney’s Office charged Gibson with crimes he did not commit, tried to...

The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) has released a new report and brief, “Curbing Pretextual Stops: Early Evidence of Harm Reduction in San Francisco,” in partnership with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office (SFPDO). CPE’s analysis found that San Francisco’s pretext-stop policy (San Francisco Police Department General Order 9.07) significantly reduced harmful interactions between police officers and drivers without compromising...

AB 1917 requires prosecutors to explain their reasoning to the court when adding back criminal charges that were dismissed by a judge at a preliminary hearing for insufficient evidence. This narrow but important procedural change will increase fairness and court efficiency by respecting judicial decisions. AB 1917 (Schultz) Respect Judicial Decisions Act was sponsored by S.F. Public Defender’s Office, Californians for...

A man was in the throes of a painful relapse in 2022 when sellers first gave him drugs for free and later said he owed them a debt which he could only repay by holding the bag—a situation is not uncommon. His defense team was able to get him into treatment, and he is now three years sober. Still, prosecutors...

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Department of Police Accountability (DPA) found that two SFPD officers used unnecessary force and violated multiple police policies when they violently dragged Matthew Ludwig out of his car, threw him to the ground, and pepper sprayed him on July 4, 2024. Officers had entered the wrong license plate number into their computer, leading them...