News and Press Releases

San Francisco, CA – Chief Attorney Teresa Caffese, the lead defense attorney in the much publicized 2005 LaShuan Harris case, will discuss her trial strategy at the 38th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law this weekend in Miami, Florida. She will join John Gould, M.D., Maguire Correctional Facility, Chief Psychiatrist, in a panel discussion entitled...

San Francisco, CA – The Public Defender’s Office was again able to successfully remove a person from the City Attorney’s gang list, this time in the Western Addition injunction. Makia Johnson was ordered excluded from the Western Addition gang injunction by Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch. In a 14-page decision, Judge Busch ruled that “the evidence is not sufficient...

San Francisco, CA – Public Defender Jeff Adachi announces victory for his client Antonio Buitrago who was ordered excluded from the Mission gang injunction by Superior Court Judge Patrick Mahoney. Judge Mahoney ruled that “the record does not establish by clear and convincing evidence that (Antonio Buitrago) is an active gang member.” The decision granting a preliminary injunction in the...

City attorney uses controversial tool against gang violence, a move critics and gang members say may do more harm than good. By Dan Verel San Francisco Bay Guardian, October 3, 2007 Read the rest of this article here.

San Francisco, CA – A new strategy for dealing with gangs is responsible for a dramatic decline in homicides in Los Angeles, according to a front-page story in today’s Los Angeles Times. The strategy involves a community-based, law enforcement program that works collaboratively with ex-gang members to prevent gang violence. According to the Times, the notoriously crime ridden city got...