OLD_San Francisco Public Defender's Office

16 Public Defender Clients Graduate Behavioral Health Court Amidst Pandemic

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August 26, 2021

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2021

CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org – (628)249-7946

**PRESS RELEASE**

16 Public Defender Clients Graduate Behavioral Health Court

First Virtual Graduation Celebrates Participants as they Strive to Heal Amidst Pandemic

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, in a ceremony held on zoom and presided over by Superior Court Judge Charles Crompton, sixteen clients of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office graduated from Behavioral Health Court, a diversion program in San Francisco Superior Court that gives people who are diagnosed with mental illness a chance to heal and excel rather than suffer prolonged incarceration and a criminal record that would otherwise inhibit their future prospects.

“BHC is a true collaboration of justice partners and the participants, and the more people we can help heal rather than incarcerate, the healthier and safer our communities will be,” said Vilaska Nguyen, Managing Attorney of Collaborative Courts for the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. “Like the individuals who participate in BHC, the program itself deserves a chance to grow because it allows people to get the support they need in order to make positive transformations.”

Behavioral Health Court is a robust collaboration between the participants and various justice partners where individuals who were initially facing misdemeanor or felony charges have the opportunity to resolve their cases through individualized treatment plans and case management. Resources can include therapy and health care, residential and outpatient addiction treatment, housing assistance, job training and educational opportunities. By completing the program, participants could have their cases dismissed, probation terminated early, or felony charges reduced to misdemeanors.

BHC attempts to tackle some of the most entrenched problems of mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness in San Francisco. Partners in the BHC program include the Public Defender, District Attorney, Adult Probation, Jail Health, Citywide, Golden Gate Regional Center, Sheriff, Superior Court and independent service providers. Graduations are held twice a year, and Mayor London Breed spoke at today’s ceremony recognizing the hard work of all the participants, especially in the face of a global pandemic.

At today’s graduation ceremony, BHC graduate Leticia Flores mentioned that she had not only made “emotional breakthroughs” but also had rediscovered her leadership abilities. Ms. Flores was involved in student government and was class president in the 5th grade, but that had been derailed by her mental illness and dual-diagnosis. While participating in BHC, she became the dorm leader at Harbor Lights, and is hopeful for the future. She thanked everyone in the program for “believing I can win over my addiction.”

“I am so proud of our clients who graduated from BHC. Today, there are 16 fewer people who, a year ago, were suffering with mental illness, many of them homeless and self-medicating, and now they are healthier, more stable and on track to future success,” said Deputy Public Defender Prithika Balakrishnan, who works with clients in BHC. “These are the stories you don’t hear in the press — the stories of people who face tremendous challenges due to mental illness and poverty, and even in the midst of this pandemic, are doing their very best to improve their lives and heal.”

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San Francisco Public Defender calls for release of Ricardo Vasquez Cruz, one of only 3 remaining ICE detainees at Yuba County Jail amidst COVID outbreak

Office of the Public Defender

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August 26, 2021

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San Francisco Public Defender calls for release of Ricardo Vasquez Cruz, one of only 3 remaining ICE detainees at Yuba County Jail amidst COVID outbreak

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2021

CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org – (628)249-7946

**PRESS RELEASE**

San Francisco Public Defender calls for release of Ricardo Vasquez Cruz, one of only 3 remaining ICE detainees at Yuba County Jail amidst COVID outbreak

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Public Defender is urgently calling for ICE to release its client Ricardo Vasquez Cruz from civil immigration detention at the Yuba County Jail in light of a recent COVID outbreak in the facility. Mr. Vasquez, 46, suffers from medical issues that render him particularly vulnerable to the virus.

Mr. Vasquez reports from inside Yuba County Jail: “They moved us to a tiny corner of the jail. It feels like a punishment being here. For the past year, I’ve been having health problems and asking for the doctors to figure out what’s been going on. I feel like I could die in here and no one would notice. Now there is COVID all over the place in here. I’m just glad my family got to come and visit me before everything was locked down again. It’s very frustrating.”

Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Friedman, from the Immigration Defense Unit of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, represents Mr. Vasquez in his deportation case. He is fighting to remain with his family in the U.S. after an alcohol-related arrest in 2017 jeopardized his immigration status. His deportation case is currently on appeal at the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) for a second time.

“Enough is enough! Ricardo has been detained by ICE unnecessarily for over three years. Today, in light of the new risk to his health posed by the COVID outbreak in his jail, we cannot stand for one more day of detention! We call on ICE to immediately release Ricardo to his family where he can properly care for his health and can continue to fight for his legal right to remain in the U.S., his home for the past twenty-two years, and for the right to be reunited with his son and extended family,” said Ms. Friedman.

Mr. Vasquez has been detained by ICE for over three years while he fights his deportation case. He is one of the three remaining people being held in the Yuba County Jail, which has a federal contract to hold immigrants who have been detained by ICE for civil immigration violations. Throughout the pandemic, the facility has suffered COVID outbreaks, and January alone, at least 70 detainees and 13 staff members fell ill. Since April 2020, the Public Defender’s Office has been involved in litigation to protect the health and safety of immigrants detained at Yuba County Jail, leading to a significant depopulation of the facility. However, Mr. Vasquez remains inside.

Mr. Vasquez hopes to be released to his home with his aging mother, adolescent son, and siblings in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he can continue to participate in AA, return to his career, care for his health and his loved ones, and continue to fight his deportation case.

“After over three years, it is time to release Ricardo to his family instead of subjecting him to needless detention that threatens his health and well-being,” said Francisco Ugarte, Managing Attorney of the Immigration Defense Unit.

Background

Mr. Vasquez has lived in the Bay Area since 1999 after fleeing El Salvador, where gangs had assaulted him and murdered his brother. He obtained temporary protected status in the U.S. and built a family and career as a sound communications engineer.

During a difficult period of his life, Mr. Vasquez was struggling with alcoholism, which led to alcohol-related arrests in 2016 and 2017, and he served six months in jail. Since then, he has turned his life around by engaging in extensive alcohol rehabilitation and adopting an unwavering commitment to his sobriety. A June 2021 evaluation by a licensed clinical psychologist concluded that Mr. Vasquez was at low risk for alcohol relapse and even lower risk of engaging in violent behavior. Despite his proven sobriety and extensive evidence of rehabilitation and community support, ICE continues to refuse to release him.

Mr. Vasquez is fighting against his deportation, not only to remain with his family, but also because his life is in danger if he is sent back to El Salvador.

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Jury Mandering | Balancing the Scales of Justice | SF Weekly Cover Story

Valerie Ibarra

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August 24, 2021

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Jury Mandering | Balancing the Scales of Justice | SF Weekly Cover Story

On August 12, 2021, SF Weekly featured as its cover story – Jury-Mandering: San Francisco may soon pilot a new program aimed at balancing the scales of justice by increasing juror diveristy – with artwork by Olivia Wise. The in-depth article “Balancing the Scales of Justice” by Lily Sinkovitz discusses our Be the Jury pilot program, which aims to create more economically- and racially-diverse juries in San Francisco, as part of a broader movement to help remedy the historic and inherent discrimination and disenfranchisement of the criminal legal system.

“This is something that defenders and our clients have been noticing for a long time. It’s very difficult to get a jury of your peers.” – sf public defender mano raju

SF Jury Acquits Man of Misdemeanor Domestic Violence | Case of Self-Defense

Valerie Ibarra

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August 12, 2021

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SF Jury Acquits Man of Misdemeanor Domestic Violence | Case of Self-Defense

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 12, 2021

CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office – pubdef-mediarelations@sfgov.org – (628)249-7946

** PRESS RELEASE**

SF Jury Acquits Man of Misdemeanor Domestic Violence

Defense Presents Case of Self-Defense

SAN FRANCISCO – This week, a jury acquitted a San Francisco man of misdemeanor domestic violence after Deputy Public Defender Cooper Findlay presented a case of self-defense that ended a 14-month old case that hindered the man’s job prospects.

“My client and I are grateful that the jury listened to the testimony, reviewed the evidence, and made the right decision,” said Mr. Findlay.

In June 2020, police responded to a 911 call and a woman with injuries. She accused her live-in partner of hitting her, but according to Mr. Findlay’s client, his partner was drunk when he came home and she physically attacked him. Although Mr. Findlay’s client told police on the scene that he had acted in self-defense, no pictures were taken of his injuries. He was arrested and charged with domestic violence.

After spending six days in jail, he was released under the conditions that he would attend weekly anger management classes and bi-weekly meetings with Assertive Case Management, with which he complied. During this time, he was looking for work, but had a potential employer turn him down because they had found the arrest on a background check.

In preparation for trial, Mr. Findlay learned that the woman had not only attacked his client before, but had also been arrested for attacking a previous intimate partner. An investigator from the Public Defender’s Office located the ex-partner who agreed to testify.

“Domestic violence is a very serious situation that no one should have to suffer, but the consequences of a false accusation are also serious,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “In these challenging situations, it can be difficult for jurors to set aside assumptions, but Mr. Findlay and his team did an excellent job uncovering and presenting the fuller picture.”

Mr. Findlay will be connecting his client with the San Francisco Public Defender Clean Slate program which assists people with clearing their records of past arrests which can often be a hindrance to job opportunities.

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SF Jury Acquits Graffiti Artist of Assault Charges Stemming from Vigilante Incident

Office of the Public Defender

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August 10, 2021

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SF Jury Acquits Graffiti Artist of Assault Charges Stemming from Vigilante Incident

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 8, 2021

CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org – (628)249-7946

**PRESS RELEASE**

SF Jury Acquits Graffiti Artist of Assault Charges Stemming from Vigilante Incident

Public Defender presented case of self-defense

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, a San Francisco jury acquitted Anthony Portillo, 29, of charges stemming from a 2017 incident in which Mr. Portillo fought off a vigilante who wanted him to stop spray-painting a dumpster. Deputy Public Defender Kwixuan Maloof argued that this was a case of self-defense.

“By all accounts, this vigilante was the aggressor and yet Mr. Portillo, who was lawfully defending himself, was the one arrested and charged with mayhem, battery, and assault,” said Mr. Maloof. “It’s unfortunate that Mr. Portillo’s family had to lose money on bailing him out, and that he had these charges hanging over his head for over four years, but Mr. Portillo and I are thankful that the jury understood the facts of the case and rightfully found him not guilty.”

On July 18, 2017, Mr. Portillo was driving on Beach Street with his family when he parked and got out to spray paint a nearby dumpster which was already covered in graffiti. A man who was sitting in his car across the street noticed what was happening and started taking pictures. The man got out of his car and closed the 50-100 foot distance, taking pictures of Mr. Portillo’s car, license plate, and was eventually mere inches from his face before hitting Mr. Portillo with his phone. Mr. Portillo grabbed the phone and threw it, but the man grabbed and hit Mr. Portillo, and the men became entangled in a fight. According to the man’s statement to police, he was angry that Mr. Portillo had ignored his verbal commands to stop spray-painting.

“I had no choice but to defend myself. What am I supposed to do? Just get beat up?” said Mr. Portillo.

Mr. Maloof pointed to statements made to police and medical personnel and during trial testimony that showed that the man who had approached was the aggressor and had to be restrained by his own wife and colleague. A bystander video showed Mr. Portillo holding him off and asking the bystander, “Tell him to stop.” Another video has the audio of a woman’s voice, Mr. Portillo’s girlfriend, saying, “I have a baby in the car. Just leave us alone.”

Although Mr. Portillo and his family attempted to tell officers at the scene that he had defended himself against an attack, the police arrested Mr. Portillo and booked him on serious felony charges.

“I’m proud of Mr. Maloof and his team for having the courage to take this case to trial and revealing the fuller picture of the incident through direct and cross examination. I am grateful that the jury carefully reviewed the evidence and found that Mr. Portillo acted in self defense,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju.

The defense team included Deputy Public Defender Kwixuan Maloof, Investigators Gary Sourifman and Greg Jowdy who gathered early evidence, and Deputy Public Defender Roberto Evangelista who conducted an earlier hearing in this case.

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SF Jury Acquits Young Woman of Child Endangerment and Reckless Driving

Office of the Public Defender

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July 7, 2021

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SF Jury Acquits Young Woman of Child Endangerment and Reckless Driving

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2021

CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org – (628)249-7946

**PRESS RELEASE**

SF Jury Acquits Young Woman of Child Endangerment and Reckless Driving

SAN FRANCISCO – Deputy Public Defender Latisha McCray won an acquittal for her 20-year-old client who was pulled over for speeding on the Bay Bridge last August. Rather than ticketing her, CHP arrested her and she was booked into SF County Jail. She was later charged with two misdemeanors for reckless driving and child endangerment, as her friend and passenger in the car was 16 years old.

Video evidence showed that she did not cause any disruption on the bridge, and both the driver and the passenger had their seatbelts fastened. There was very little traffic on the bridge at the time due to the pandemic and the late time of day.

“Our client should have never been arrested nor charged criminally. This is a case that should have, at worst, gone to traffic court,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “Something of this nature never should have been taking up space in criminal court, which is currently impacted by an enormous backlog of cases due to the pandemic. I am proud of Ms. McCray for her advocacy in this case.”

“My client was not willing to take a bad deal on a case that grossly overcharged her, nor accept the conditions of a settlement which could have marred her record and impacted her career aspirations. I am glad that the jury understood that she was not guilty of the charges,” said Deputy Public Defender McCray.

New CA Bill Pilots Higher Compensation for Low-Income Jurors in San Francisco

Office of the Public Defender

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June 30, 2021

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New CA Bill Pilots Higher Compensation for Low-Income Jurors in San Francisco

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2021

MEDIA CONTACTS:

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 – SF District Attorney’s Office – (415) 416-4468 – Rachel.Marshall@sfgov.org; Nannette Miranda – Assemblymember Ting’s Office – (415) 557-2312 – Nannette.Miranda@asm.ca.gov

**PRESS RELEASE**

New CA Bill Pilots Higher Compensation for Low-Income Jurors in San Francisco

AB 1452 authorizes the “Be The Jury” pilot program to compensate low-income jurors $100 a day to remove barriers to serving and to increase economic and racial diversity of juries.

SAN FRANCISCO – Yesterday, AB 1452, establishing the “Be the Jury” pilot program, passed out of the California Senate Public Safety Committee. AB 1452, authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting, would authorize a first-of-its-kind pilot program in San Francisco Superior Court. The program will compensate low-income jurors $100 a day for their jury service with the goal of establishing juries that are more reflective of San Francisco’s diverse communities.

AB 1452 is co-sponsored by San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros, Public Defender Mano Raju, and District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

“The ‘Be The Jury’ pilot program will make the civic duty of serving on a jury accessible to all San Franciscans, regardless of the size of their wallet,” said San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros. “The nominal juror compensation provided under current law places a significant financial burden that prevents too many low-income people from serving on a jury.”

Because income inequality is strongly correlated with race and ethnicity, juries have become less racially diverse due to an inability to afford to participate, and tend to be composed of people who can afford to serve unpaid or who have employers who will pay them while they are serving.

“The right to a jury of one’s peers is at the core of our justice system, but it’s common for my office, and our clients, to see juries that do not reflect the diversity of our city and our communities,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “I began raising this issue as a line deputy public defender, based on what we were seeing in court and based on what we were hearing from the community. After becoming the elected Public Defender of San Francisco, I approached the Treasurer and suggested this concrete step to address what is really a nationwide problem. After years of hard work, I am pleased that it has now evolved into a bill that will bring us one step closer towards providing fairer trials. It will also hopefully increase civic engagement opportunities for potential jurors who are otherwise deprived of the right to serve.”

“As a champion for promoting diversity in our jury pools, I am proud to co-sponsor AB 1452. Justice and fairness demand that the jurors tasked with making decisions on behalf of the community actually reflect the diversity of our city. The pilot project established by AB 1452 would be an important step towards advancing diverse jury pools in San Francisco and I urge the legislature to pass this bill,” said San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

In San Francisco, a survey by the Administrative Office of the Courts of California found that 35 percent of jurors report that jury service imposed a financial hardship. While California law requires employers to provide time off for employees who are summoned to jury duty, employers are not required to compensate employees who serve on a jury. If a juror’s employer does not cover their salary while serving, jurors earn nothing on their first day of service and $15 per day after that. In California, approximately two-thirds of employers, primarily public and large private employers, provide some compensation to employees summoned for jury service.

“Economic hardship shouldn’t deter people from serving on juries. On top of lost wages, the $15 per day that jurors are paid barely covers their transportation and meal expenses,” said Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), author of AB 1452. “Higher compensation for jury duty will help ensure that our jury pools are more reflective of the communities they are serving. This legislation helps put us on a path to more diverse and inclusive juries.”

The “Be The Jury” program will compensate jurors with low-to-moderate incomes $100 per day for jury service in criminal trials in San Francisco Superior Court for the duration of the pilot. Jurors are eligible if their household income is less than 80% Area Median Income ($71,700 for a single person; $102,500 for a household of four) and if they meet one of the following criteria: (1) their employer does not compensate for jury service; (2) their employer does not compensate for the estimated duration of jury service; (3) they are self-employed; or (4) they are unemployed. Stakeholders will conduct an evaluation of the pilot program once it is completed.

The “Be The Jury” pilot program is funded by philanthropic dollars raised by the San Francisco Treasurer’s Financial Justice Project.

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Firsthand Accounts of Surviving Prisons and Pandemic Power the Adachi Project’s Films | KQED Arts

KQED
Media

Valerie Ibarra

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June 24, 2021

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Firsthand Accounts of Surviving Prisons and Pandemic Power the Adachi Project’s Films | KQED Arts

KQED Arts writer Nastia Voynovskaya interviewed members of the Adachi Project as well as our SF Public Defender client, Paul Redd, whose release from prison after 44 years was one of the first films to be made. Under the art and editorial umbrella of DEFENDER-Vol.00, the Adachi Project has released three films – “Forty Four Years Later” featuring Paul Redd, “One Eleven Taylor (During a Pandemic)” exposing the conditions of neglect at a privately-run halfway house in the Tenderloin, and most recently “From Inside” with candid interviews with clients who were going through the emotional and psychological turmoil of being in jail during the early days of the pandemic. KQED reported on all three films and the overarching goals of the Project itself:

So why are lawyers making art instead of, say, holding press conferences about criminal justice reform? “Behind the statistics are people and families and communities who are impacted,” explains Hadi Razzaq, managing attorney at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. “And so we really believe that we need those human stories to move the needle to make lasting change.”

OpEd by Mano Raju: If you want to work towards justice, fund your local public defender

Valerie Ibarra

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June 17, 2021

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OpEd by Mano Raju: If you want to work towards justice, fund your local public defender

The San Francisco Examiner published this Op Ed by San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju on June 17, 2021.

“We spend exponentially more on the departments that arrest, confine, incarcerate, and monitor than we do on the one department that fights for the most marginalized.”

Ninth Circuit Rules in Favor of Immigrant Woman Escaping Torture in Mexico

Office of the Public Defender

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June 11, 2021

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For Immediate Release: June 11, 2021

Contact: SF Public Defender’s Office – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org (628)249-7946

**PRESS RELEASE**

Ninth Circuit Rules in Favor of Immigrant Woman Escaping Torture in Mexico

SAN FRANCISCO – In a groundbreaking decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today in favor of a San Francisco Public Defender client, Delfina Soto Soto, who is a survivor of torture and who fled Mexico seeking refuge in the United States. The Court ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) erred when denying her case by misapplying the facts to the law, and by applying the wrong standard of review. The decision will help other immigrants in their fight against deportation.

“I feel so happy and so moved, I want to cry of happiness. My nightmare is over,” said Ms. Soto.

The decision also culminates Ms. Soto’s 3-year legal saga, where she spent more than two years in an immigration detention center.

“Ms. Soto has gone through hell and back,” said Hector Vega, Deputy Public Defender and attorney for Ms. Soto in her deportation proceedings. “Rather than being treated as a survivor of torture seeking refuge, ICE kept her detained. But she never lost faith that justice would be served at the end.”

While living in a small town in Mexico, law enforcement authorities wrongfully accused her of committing a crime, placed her under arrest, brutally tortured, assaulted, and waterboarded her, and threatened her children during the interrogation to force her into signing a false confession. After Mexican courts dismissed the charges against her for lack of evidence, Ms. Soto continued to receive death threats and so fled to the United States to seek protection under the Convention Against Torture. When Mexican authorities filed new charges, Ms. Soto was already in the U.S., which made her a target for arrest.

Immigration & Customs Enforcement was unsympathetic. They placed her under arrest and launched removal proceedings. Ms. Soto testified in her removal hearing that she had been assaulted, water-boarded, and asphyxiated by Mexican authorities, and believed it would happen again if she were deported. The Immigration Judge found her credible, and granted her relief.

However, ICE appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals — the appellate body which became partisan and hardline under the Trump Administration. The BIA sided with ICE, and denied Ms. Soto’s case, converting it from a victory to a deportation order.

Ms. Soto appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit, which not only ruled in her favor, but ordered the government to grant her relief under the Convention Against Torture.

“Nothing can erase the horror imposed on Ms. Soto by the Mexican authorities, but at least, she can now live freely and safely with her family, away from harm, in the United States,” said Vega.

“The decision is a clear message to the Board of Immigration Appeals to not serve as a rubber stamp to ICE’s demands for reconsideration of grants. Time and time again, we see the BIA making cruel and arbitrary decisions, acting not as an impartial adjudicator, but instead as a tool for deportation. We hope this decision puts the BIA on notice that it must act more like a court, and less like a deportation force,” said Francisco Ugarte, Manager of the Public Defender’s Immigration Defense Unit.

The case will now be remanded back to the Board and then back to the Immigration Court with specific directions from the Ninth Circuit to grant the relief. A link to the decision can be found here.

“I want more people to keep their faith and hopes when fighting for their cases. There are so many attorneys out there fighting hard to ensure people receive help and justice,” said Ms. Soto.