News and Press Releases

Public defender calls for measures to prevent a coronavirus outbreak in jail By Michael Barba – San Francisco Examiner As the number of coronavirus cases rises in San Francisco, Public Defender Manohar Raju has called on the sheriff to provide a full accounting of the steps being taken to prevent an outbreak from spreading among inmates at County Jail. Raju...

SAN FRANCISCO, MARCH 5, 2020 –  This morning, all charges were dismissed against Kenneth Ofigho, 31, a former employee of Edgewood Center, who has consistently maintained his innocence after being wrongly accused of inappropriately touching a minor in April 2019.  The charges were dismissed after a lengthy review of all the evidence, including the lack of any DNA evidence, and...

San Francisco– On election day, Tuesday March 3, federal immigration agents arrested a San Francisco resident in front of the courthouse steps of 850 Bryant Street as he was entering criminal court for a hearing. ICE agents acted without a judicial warrant and therefore in violation of state law. The San Francisco Public Defender and the District Attorney have condemned...

“I am extremely disturbed to learn of Sheriff Miyamoto’s plans to move up to 100 people currently held in the San Francisco County Jail to Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County. Nearly 50 people have died in Santa Rita Jail in the last 5 years, and the jail has been deemed by East Bay Express as “The most dangerous place...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – On February 27, 2020, in front of a crowd of over 300 people at Brava Theater, San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju took his oath of office and pledged his service to the community as part of the annual Black History Month Celebration of the Public Defender’s Office. His oath was administrated by Gwen Woods, mother...