News and Press Releases

San Francisco, CA— A woman who defended herself against a physical assault had her case dismissed after the trial ended in a hung jury, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today.  Mae Richardson, 56, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest, stemming from an incident that occurred on May 7 of...

SF Public Defender, immigrant rights groups escalate legal pressure on Trump admin as anger over abrupt transfers mounts. San Francisco – Local immigration attorneys filed a flurry of “Habeas Corpus” petitions in federal district court today, seeking the release of 10 people arbitrarily transferred last week from the West County Detention Facility in Richmond to out-of-state immigration jails. The transfers...

NOTE: This op-ed will appear in Friday’s Daily Journal to declare that we have the right to plead no contest, a right that San Francisco courts have denied our clients. While it is true that the taking of a no contest plea is subject to the court’s permission, I argue that their decision to deny it in every case is...