News and Press Releases

“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...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – On February 25, 2020, a jury acquitted a former Lyft driver, Vincent Perrault, 46, of assault charges related to an incident in which he acted in self-defense when confronted in the street by intoxicated passengers whom he asked to exit his car around 2:00am on December 27, 2016, after they were being disruptive and told him...

How long must S.F. wait to root out police corruption? By Mano Raju, Public Defender of San Francisco Open Forum – SF Chronicle – February 6, 2020 Over a year ago, California finally acknowledged the public’s right to know about police corruption in our communities. Specifically, SB 1421 made public all records of police dishonesty, shootings, sexual assault, and use-of-force...

SAN FRANCISCO – On January 31, 2020, a jury acquitted Troylene Trammell, 57, of vehicular manslaughter, finding Ms. Trammell was not negligent. The tragic accident on a March 2017 night took the life of a woman crossing an unregulated crosswalk at Mission and Ney Streets. Jurors learned that the crosswalk was positioned mid-block, with no signage or traffic lights at...