News and Press Releases

SAN FRANCISCO – On Monday, January 6, 2020, a jury acquitted Vihn Tran, 38, of felony charges related to a nighttime attack near Union Square in October 2018. Deputy Public Defender Seth Meisels presented evidence undermining the identification of Tran during what Meisels called a poorly run investigation by the San Francisco Police Department. After a man suffered an unprovoked...

Trans woman sues after surprise Christmas move to Texas ICE facility By John Ferrannini – Bay Area Reporter – Jan. 6, 2020 The San Francisco Public Defender’s office filed a lawsuit in federal court January 3 on behalf of a transgender woman who is fighting deportation. Lexis Hernandez Avilez, 41, was brought to the United States from Mexico as a...

How ICE treats transgender people — a horror story Court filing says Salinas woman has been denied medicine, appropriate clothing, and access to lawyer after being unexpectedly moved from Yuba County to Texas. By Tim Redmond – 48Hills – January 5, 2020 Lexis Avilez thought she was going home on Christmas. It seemed, she later said, like a miracle when...

SF Public Defender’s Office Takes on ICE Over Transfer of Client to Texas By Michelle Wiley – KQED – Jan. 4, 2020 The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is requesting an immediate hearing to have a transgender woman, who was transferred out of California on Christmas Day, released or returned to the state. The public defender’s office filed a motion...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 3, 2020 SF PUBLIC DEFENDERS FILE RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST I.C.E. FOR CHRISTMAS NIGHT TRANSFER OF TRANSGENDER IMMIGRANT DETAINEE TO TEXAS, WHERE SHE IS BEING HELD IN ISOLATION SAN FRANCISCO, CA — On Friday, January 3, 2020 the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and...