News and Press Releases

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 be removed from the injunctions...

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 that four days earlier he...

San Francisco, CA – John M., 23 years old, was acquitted yesterday of robbery and aggravated assault with great bodily harm stemming from an incident in which he was accused of physically attacking and turning his dog on the complaining witness, Adam McFarland. Each count constituted a strike, and the charges carried a potential sentence of 16 years in prison....

San Francisco, CA – San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi will be honored alongside two San Francisco community leaders on Thursday, December 6 at the Fifth Annual Cheyenne Bell Leadership Awards Ceremony, hosted by The Center for Young Women’s Development.  Jeff Adachi, Tinisch Hollins and Ida McCray will be presented with an award recognizing their individual work benefiting young people...

San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is proud the announce the recipients of the 2007 Gideon Award: Nina Wilder, Eileen Burke and Christopher Gauger. The Gideon Award is presented annually by the Public Defender’s Office to members of the criminal defense bar, both public and private, in honor of their commitment to excellent criminal defense. The...