News and Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 20, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office |Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628) 249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** SF Jury Acquits Another Community Member Who Spent One Year in Jail Awaiting Trial Judge wouldn’t release person from jail before trial without a program in place, but no program was available SAN FRANCISCO – Last week, the trial of Christopher Welch...

This piece in The Guardian highlights the continuing humanitarian crisis in San Francisco County jail. Nearly 900 people remain in isolation under 23-hour lockdown, and at least 25% of them are people whose trial deadlines have passed. We are litigating against the trampling of their speedy trial rights caused by ongoing court delays. “These aren’t even people who have been...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2022 CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office |Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** SF Jury Acquits Man Who Spent 331 Days in Jail, Nearly 8 Months Past his Legal Deadline for Trial SAN FRANCISCO – Yesterday, a San Francisco jury acquitted Isaac Tuialuuluu of a felony assault charge after finding that he was acting in self-defense during...

Reporter Laura Kusisto of the Wall Street Journal interviewed San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju about the legal actions he has taken to address the growing backlog of trials in San Francisco Superior Court during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many other counties have safely held jury trials throughout the pandemic, San Francisco Superior Court has not made sufficient courtroom space...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  March 17, 2022 CONTACT: Valerie Ibarra – SF Public Defender’s Office – (628) 249-7946 – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org Anne Stuhldreher – SF Financial Justice Project – (415) 596-6138 – Anne.Stuhldreher@sfgov.org Rachel Marshall – San Francisco District Attorney’s Office – (415) 416-4468 – Rachel.Marshall@fgov.org  **PRESS RELEASE** The Golden State Warriors Release PSAs for San Francisco’s “Be The Jury” Pilot Program...