News and Press Releases

San Francisco, CA – Last Wednesday, Ronald Brown, a 43-year-old husband and father of three, was acquitted of two counts of resisting arrest and battery on a police officer. The charges stemmed from accusations that he interfered with his stepson’s arrest. On October 18, 2006, at 1:30am, Brown was awoken by a knock at his door. When he opened the door,...

SFPD Destroys Physical Evidence During Trial; DA Disregards Exculpatory Evidence San Francisco, CA – San Francisco resident Jerniece Menefee was acquitted of attempted murder and five additional felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon by a San Francisco jury last Friday afternoon. Menefee faced 34 years to life in prison. On April 11, 2005, the San Francisco Police Department...

San Francisco, CA – Deputy Public Defender Patricia Lee, a 29-year veteran of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, will be honored with the California Wellness Foundation’s 2007 California Peace Prize. The 15th Annual California Peace Prize ceremony will be held in San Francisco on November 14, 2007. In recognition of her efforts to prevent violence and promote peace, Lee...

San Francisco, CA – The preliminary hearing of Omeed Aziz Popal, 30, is set to begin at 9:00 a.m. on November 7, 2007, at the Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant Street, Dept. 20. Popal is facing attempted murder charges in connection with a series of alleged hit-and-run incidents that injured eighteen people in San Francisco on August 29, 2006. Popal,...

San Francisco, CA – Last week, robbery and assault charges against two men were dismissed based, in part, on videotaped evidence from San Francisco crime-surveillance cameras. The videotapes, which were obtained by the Public Defender’s Office, confirmed their alibis that they were elsewhere at the time the crimes were committed. The two men, Neil Butler, 23, and Robert Dillon, 21,...