FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 26, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** SF Jury Acquits on Assault Charge in a Trial That Came 7 Months Late for a Man Jailed for Nearly a Year SFPD took 9 months to turn over video that the jury used to reach its...Read More

SF Examiner Reports on the “Legal Logjam” in SF Courts Keeping Hundreds in Jail Past Trial Deadlines “If we’re going to prioritize anything as The City reopens, the most important thing to prioritize, according to our Constitution, should be people’s right to liberty,” [raju] said. The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office has been raising the...Read More

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,...Read More

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...Read More

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...Read More

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...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  March 3, 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** San Francisco to Launch the “Be The Jury” Pilot...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 28, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** Case Dismissed Mid-Trial Due to Lack of Evidence Against Man Who Spent a Year in SF Jail Defense cites faulty police investigation, questions whether crime was committed at all SAN FRANCISCO – On February 14, charges were...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 22, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** San Francisco Public Defender Announces the Hiring of Angela Chan, Long-time Immigrant Advocate for the Asian Law Caucus SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju announced today that he has hired Angela Chan to join...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 18, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | PubDef-MediaRelations@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS STATEMENT** SF Public Defender Calls for the Immediate Destruction and Independent Investigation of Illegal DNA Database Created by SF Police Crime Lab The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office expressed outrage at the recent revelation that the SFPD crime...Read More