News and Press Releases

Watch 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty,' a :30 video launched by the San Francisco Public Defender’s office to remind people of their Constitutional right of presumed innocence.

A San Francisco man who stabbed an attacker who burst into his residence was found not guilty Tuesday of second degree murder.

A judge dismissed a vehicular manslaughter charge Tuesday against a motorist involved in a 2009 fatal crash after determining that prosecutors unreasonably delayed the case and police lost critical evidence.

A police officer and potential witness in an upcoming narcotics trial was once suspended for gouging a handcuffed man’s face with a broken crack pipe. Friday, prosecutors declared they were ready for trial, despite never disclosing the incident to the public defender.

In a 26-page ruling, a Superior Court judge lays responsibility for hundreds of dismissed drug cases squarely at the feet of the District Attorney, stating prosecutors hid behind a procedural mechanism after failing multiple times to disclose evidence involving SFPD witnesses.