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Statement by San Francisco Elected Public Defender Mano Raju to the Special Committee on the Office of the Attorney General

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April 21, 2021

Statement by San Francisco Elected Public Defender Mano Raju to the Special Committee on the Office of the Attorney General

“Good Afternoon Honorable Assemblymembers and thank you for the opportunity to be part of this conversation. My name is Mano Raju, and I am the elected Public Defender of San Francisco.

I’m honored to represent the criminal defense community and the movement for true and transformative justice in California. I want to begin today with the guilty verdict returned by the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial yesterday. To be clear — the jury reached the right decision. But as others have said, this isn’t justice. Justice is George Floyd being alive today; justice is ending police violence against Black and Brown communities; justice is diverting resources from police to programs that will help those communities thrive. A guilty verdict here provided some measure of accountability, but it is far short of Justice.

It’s important to note that this outcome would not have been possible had Keith Ellison, the Attorney General of Minnesota, not stepped in to handle the case. Simply put, if this prosecution had been left to local law enforcement, Derek Chauvin likely would NOT have been convicted.

In the past several years our country has awakened to the frequency and brutality of police violence. And just this week, we’ve seen it again: Ma’Khia Bryant, killed by police just after the Chauvin verdict was announced, and Mario Gonzalez killed Monday during an arrest by the Alameda Police Department. And again we wonder – will we know the truth of what happened? If the investigation reveals wrongdoing, will it be swept under the rug, or will it be brought to light?

It’s crucially important that law enforcement accountability be a top priority of the next Attorney General. This responsibility also extends beyond these most extreme circumstances, into rooting out racist, biased, and violent subcultures within the ranks.

It’s not just important that the next Attorney General steps up on law enforcement accountability issues; they must also step DOWN when pushed to defend unjust and inhumane policies and practices on behalf of state and local prosecutors. Historically, California Attorney Generals have vigorously and consistently fought against the appeals and petitions of incarcerated people challenging wrongful convictions or inhumane prison conditions. This includes the California Attorney Generals’ continued defense of every death sentence, their refusal to acknowledge strong innocence claims, racial bias in these decisions, or the fact that many people on death row suffer from mental illness. It includes the way the Attorney General’s office has defended the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation’s actions, which contributed to the deaths of 221 people in CDCR custody since the beginning of the pandemic. These positions — in litigation related to criminal appeals, the death penalty, prison conditions, and more — are inhumane. They are shameful. We believe it is possible for the Attorney General’s office to fulfill its obligation to represent the State in these actions without further degrading the human beings at the center of the issue, and we call upon the next Attorney General to make it so.

Finally, I want to note a few other things that we look forward to the next Attorney General taking a key leadership role on:

“Clean Slate” efforts: the Department of Justice has the most power and responsibility for maintaining, and expunging, criminal records. California is ready for a new, more efficient, effective, and fair approach.
We urge the next Attorney General to take a strong position regarding ending the practice of turning people over to ICE. after they have earned their release from jail and prison.
If confirmed, we look forward to Attorney General Bonta’s continued leadership at the intersection of the criminal legal system and private industry by ensuring that we eliminate the predatory bail bonds industry and continue to move away from using private prisons and detention centers.
And we look forward to his continued leadership in taking powerful and refreshing stances regarding violence against the Asian American Pacific Islander community, and others, by recognizing that punishment is not the only possible tool, and often not the best solution to these problems.

This is a unique moment in the history of our state and country. People are ready for true change in the criminal legal system in a way that we haven’t seen before. If confirmed, Attorney General Bonta has an incredible opportunity to seize that momentum — momentum generated by communities impacted by this system and their allies — to TRULY and meaningfully address this system’s failures; to promote true justice, true accountability, true public safety, health, and healing. I, along with my office, will be here to support him in these efforts, and to help keep him accountable.”

Statement from San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju on the Guilty Verdict of Derek Chauvin

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April 21, 2021

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Statement from San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju on the Guilty Verdict of Derek Chauvin

“I spent last night reflecting on all of the advocacy – in the streets, and in halls of power – that led to this moment. I want to honor everyone who participated in the summer’s global protests that led to this prosecution. I also want to thank the jury for doing the right thing.

However, I’m very cognizant of the fact that this verdict does not mitigate the normalized institutional violence that happens every day at every level of the system and beyond — to which we as public defenders bear witness on a daily basis — and which we have an obligation to expose, oppose, and dismantle.

George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight, on film, before multiple people imploring Chauvin to stop, while fellow police officers stood by and watched. It will take much more than this conviction to end police violence against communities of color.

The voices on the streets honoring George Floyd are the ones I stand in solidarity with. I will continue to fight alongside you for justice.”

Man acquitted in two waterfront attacks – evidence of mental breakdown

Valerie Ibarra

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April 14, 2021

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Man acquitted in two waterfront attacks – evidence of mental breakdown

Reporter Bob Egelko of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that, on April 12, 2021, a San Francisco jury determined that U.S. military veteran George Kennedy, 49, was not guilty of two felony assaults because he was suffering from a mental health crisis and was unaware of his actions. Deputy Public Defender Martina Avalos and her team presented expert testimony to explain to the jury that Mr. Kennedy was in the midst of an acute psychotic episode that rendered him unconscious, which meant that he was not criminally culpable.

“The jury understood that Mr. Kennedy was not conscious when these troubling incidents occurred. Cases like this are uncomfortable for all of us who care about the health and safety of our communities, but this case reminds us that criminal court is not the appropriate venue to address mental illness. Prison was never going to be the solution to Mr. Kennedy’s mental illness. Now, he can continue to get the medical care he needs through his full coverage with the Veterans Administration,” said deputy public defender Martina Avalos.
“This was a very difficult and sad case. Clearly, Mr. Kennedy suffers from serious mental health issues and did not have the awareness and intent that the law requires for a criminal conviction. This case is a prime example of how the criminal legal system is not designed to solve our public health and safety problems,” said Public Defender Mano Raju. “I commend our defense team who worked hard and skillfully to secure not guilty verdicts and avoid further incarceration for someone who is seriously ill.”

Photo (cropped) – Jessica Christian, SF Chronicle

SF Jury Acquits U.S. Military Veteran on Assault Charges

Office of the Public Defender

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April 13, 2021

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SF Jury Acquits U.S. Military Veteran on Assault Charges

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 13, 2021

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

** PRESS RELEASE**

SF Jury Acquits U.S. Military Veteran on Assault Charges

San Francisco Public Defender Showed that their Client was Suffering a Mental Health Crisis and was Unconscious

SAN FRANCISCO – On Monday, April 12, 2021, a San Francisco jury determined that U.S. military veteran George Kennedy, 49, was not guilty of two felony assaults because he was suffering from a mental health crisis and was unaware of his actions. Deputy Public Defender Martina Avalos and her team presented expert testimony to explain to the jury that Mr. Kennedy was in the midst of an acute psychotic episode that rendered him unconscious, which meant that he was not criminally culpable.

The charges stemmed from two consecutive incidents along the Embarcadero in February 2020, where Mr. Kennedy was identified as the person who attacked a jogger and then a tourist near Pier 39. Police tackled Mr. Kennedy while he was riding his bike and brought him into custody where he was immediately evaluated by Jail Health Services who flagged him for psychiatric treatment and ruled out drugs as a source of the psychosis.

“The jury understood that Mr. Kennedy was not conscious when these troubling incidents occurred. Cases like this are uncomfortable for all of us who care about the health and safety of our communities, but this case reminds us that criminal court is not the appropriate venue to address mental illness. Prison was never going to be the solution to Mr. Kennedy’s mental illness. Now, he can continue to get the medical care he needs through his full coverage with the Veterans Administration,” said Avalos.

The defense called five expert witnesses – one who testified about Mr. Kennedy’s diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, one who testified about what happens to the brain during an acute psychotic break, and three from Jail Health Services who have been monitoring Mr. Kennedy for over a year.

The jury deliberated for just over a day before delivering not guilty verdicts on both felony assault charges. The jury did find Mr. Kennedy guilty of a misdemeanor for resisting arrest, but due to an earlier dismissal and refiling of the case and pandemic-related court delays, he has been in custody awaiting trial for 14 months and was released for time served.

“This was a very difficult and sad case. Clearly, Mr. Kennedy suffers from serious mental health issues and did not have the awareness and intent that the law requires for a criminal conviction. This case is a prime example of how the criminal legal system is not designed to solve our public health and safety problems,” said Public Defender Mano Raju. “I commend our defense team who worked hard and skillfully to secure not guilty verdicts and avoid further incarceration for someone who is seriously ill.”

Deputy Public Defender Martina Avalos of the Public Defender’s Office defended Mr. Kennedy, assisted by second chair, Deputy Public Defender Oliver Kroll, Law Clerk Matt Dalton, Paralegal Margaret So, and Investigator James Faulkner.

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Biden Has a Chance to End the Jail-to-Deportation Pipeline – But the immigration reform bill currently making its way through Congress carries over punitive policies from previous administrations.

Valerie Ibarra

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April 12, 2021

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Biden Has a Chance to End the Jail-to-Deportation Pipeline – But the immigration reform bill currently making its way through Congress carries over punitive policies from previous administrations.

In this Op Ed published in The Nation, San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Carla Gomez, Hena Mansori of the Bronx Defenders, and Sophia Gurulé of Cook County Public Defenders penned these powerful critiques of President Biden’s “American Dream and Promise Act” otherwise known as HR 6. While the bill has many good measures, certain parts run the risk of repeating the errors of our past. All three co-authors are part of the Public Defenders’ Coalition for Immigration Justice, a national coalition which continues to speak out and urge the federal government to stop criminalizing immigrants.

“Fueling the jail-to-deportation pipeline with its criminalization bars, HR 6 places the power to withhold citizenship in the hands of the local police and prosecutors who dictate the arrest, charges, pleas, and sentences that the bill would enshrine—even as our nation struggles to reconcile that the application of these discretionary powers is deeply informed by ZIP code and skin color.”

“As with the criminal legal system, HR 6’s sweeping and punitive criminalization bars would disproportionately punish poor Black people and other communities of color. For example, the bill bars immigrants from obtaining lawful status, with very limited exception, if they have been convicted at any time in their lives of any three misdemeanors, which include offenses such as jaywalking, disorderly conduct, street vending without a license, shoplifting, and trespass.”
“We urge members of Congress and the Biden administration to reject the criminalization bars in HR 6, and to ensure that all proposed immigration reform, including the US Citizenship Act, does not exclude our country’s most policed and vulnerable communities.”

SF Public Defender says client’s actions weren’t race based, shares revealing video

Valerie Ibarra

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April 8, 2021

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SF Public Defender says client’s actions weren’t race based, shares revealing video

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office released previously unseen video surveillance footage of what happened the morning of March 17, 2021, at UN Plaza, when SF Defender client Steven Jenkins was arrested for hitting Xiao Zhen Xie at the corner of Market and 7th Streets. KTVU’s Andre Torrez reports on the video showing Mr. Jenkins as the victim of an unprovoked attack by multiple unknown parties where he sustained 45 hits, including multiple blows to the head, moments prior to his encounter with Ms. Xiao.

As Deputy Public Defender Eric McBurney explains in his press statement:

“Based on the facts that I have reviewed, I do not believe that Mr. Jenkins’s actions were racially motivated. On that day, Mr. Jenkins himself was the victim of an unprovoked attack by four unknown assailants who struck him over forty times immediately before he was seen striking Mr. Pham and Ms. Xiao. Due to the initial attack, Mr. Jenkins suffered multiple head injuries, and I believe that he was in a diminished mental state, and disoriented as a result, when he encountered Mr. Pham and Ms. Xiao just moments later.”

Deputy Public Defender Eric McBurney’s Statement on Case Involving His Client Steven Jenkins + Video Surveillance

Office of the Public Defender

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April 8, 2021

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2021

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

**PRESS STATEMENT**

Deputy Public Defender Eric McBurney’s Statement on Case Involving His Client Steven Jenkins

Includes Previously Unreleased Video Surveillance

“My name is Eric McBurney, the Deputy Public Defender representing Steven Jenkins, who was arrested on March 17, 2021, after witnesses saw him strike Xiao Zhen Xie at the corner of Market and 7th Streets in San Francisco. Mr. Jenkins is also accused of hitting Ngoc Pham that same day.

These are two deeply troubling assaults of elderly Asian Americans in our community, at a time when Asian Americans locally and nationally are suffering from an escalation of violence and anti-Asian racism. As an immigrant from Taiwan myself, I understand why there has been so much concern about this case and I have great sympathy for Mr. Pham, Ms. Xiao, and their families.

However, this situation is much more complex than it may appear. Based on the facts that I have reviewed, I do not believe that Mr. Jenkins’s actions were racially motivated. On that day, Mr. Jenkins himself was the victim of an unprovoked attack by four unknown assailants who struck him over forty times immediately before he was seen striking Mr. Pham and Ms. Xiao. Due to the initial attack, Mr. Jenkins suffered multiple head injuries, and I believe that he was in a diminished mental state, and disoriented as a result, when he encountered Mr. Pham and Ms. Xiao just moments later.

Right now, I cannot answer every question, but I wanted to share what we know so far from the video surveillance we are releasing today:

1) The morning of March 17, 2021, Mr. Jenkins suffered an unprovoked assault by multiple unknown parties at UN Plaza. Surveillance video showed him as the victim of a group attack in broad daylight while pedestrians went about their business near the Farmers’ Market. Following that initial assault by three people, another unidentified man followed Mr. Jenkins and struck him multiple times as he was walking away. In irregular bursts, the attack on Mr. Jenkins lasted over three minutes, during which time he was hit 45 times and sustained multiple blows to the head.

2) As he walked away from his own assailants, Mr. Jenkins’s face was bloodied, he was disoriented and possibly concussed.

3) When Mr. Jenkins encountered Ms. Xiao three minutes later, he was being pursued by his fourth assailant who had just hit him multiple times approximately twenty seconds before Mr. Jenkins stuck Ms. Xiao. Ms. Xiao was standing near a pole at the corner of Market and 7th Streets. She was wearing a hat and a mask. Mr. Jenkins hit her one time before a security guard ran over and tackled him to the ground.

Steven Jenkins is a thirty-nine-year-old homeless man with mental health issues. What happened that day was not the norm for him. He has no prior convictions for physically hurting anyone. He has struggled throughout his life on the street, largely ignored by society. Even when he is attacked and hit over 40 times in broad daylight in the busy UN plaza, not one person comes to his aid.

This situation is a tragedy on many fronts. There were three victims of assault that terrible morning: Ms. Xiao, Mr. Pham, and indeed Mr. Jenkins himself.”

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Dozens of SFPD officers quit before facing serious discipline. An ‘informal’ policy seeks to fix it.

Office of the Public Defender

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April 1, 2021

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Dozens of SFPD officers quit before facing serious discipline. An ‘informal’ policy seeks to fix it.

Our Integrity Unit keeps close tabs on the Police Commission and police officer misconduct. Our data revealed that, since 2016, more than two dozen SFPD officers have quit before a finding could be made by the Police Commission in serious misconduct investigations. This means an officer can undergo screening when moving to another department and never have a disciplinary mark on their record. They could also avoid state transparency laws that makes certain misconduct records public.

Julian Mark of Mission Local reports that the Police Commission and the Chief of Police have recently forged a process that would kick that final decision back to the Chief in cases where officers have resigned. We cannot rely on an ‘informal’ policy to close critical loopholes in the pursuit of police accountability and transparency.

“If the point is to have civilian oversight for significant misconduct cases as the Charter clearly specifies,” deputy public defender brian Cox said, “why is the chief supplanting the commission’s authority?”

California Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Pretrial Rights in Re Kenneth Humphrey Decision

Office of the Public Defender

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March 25, 2021

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California Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Pretrial Rights in Re Kenneth Humphrey Decision

For Immediate Release: March 25, 2021

Media contacts:

San Francisco Public Defender’s Office / (628)249-7946 / Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org
Civil Rights Corps / Amber English Coleman / Media@CivilRightsCorps.org

**PRESS RELEASE**

California Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Pretrial Rights in Re Kenneth Humphrey Decision

Court unanimously rules California’s money bail system unconstitutional, reiterates that detention should only be used if absolutely necessary

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the California Supreme Court upheld Californians’ fundamental right to pretrial liberty in a unanimous decision in In re Kenneth Humphrey. In their decision, the court found that California unconstitutionally detained Petitioner Kenneth Humphrey by setting a bail amount without considering his ability to pay or considering nonmonetary alternatives.

In the three years since his release, Humphrey has satisfied every court mandate and thrived. “I am pleased other people will have the same opportunities I had to change their lives and they will not have to wait in jail for years because they are too poor to pay bail,” Kenneth Humphrey said.

The Court declared that California’s pervasive practice of requiring money bail in most cases is unconstitutional and that courts must consider all non-monetary alternatives to detention. While the Court did not rule on the process for denying bail, it reiterated past federal precedent in United States v. Salerno that “liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception.”

“Today’s decision will go a long way toward eradicating wealth-based human caging from our society,” said Alec Karakatsanis, Founder and Executive Director of Civil Rights Corps. “The police, prosecutors, and bail bond companies who benefit from pretrial human caging are working hard to ensure that any system that replaces this money bail system reproduces its harms; however, today’s victory provides us much needed energy as we continue our fight for basic liberty and for returning people to their families and communities.”

“Today’s historic decision affirms that people like our client Kenneth Humphrey, who bravely fought for his pretrial freedom, can no longer be locked up in jail simply for being poor and when they pose no threat to public safety. Mr. Humphrey’s success while out of custody shows what can happen when we invest in people, not cages, and my office is committed to continuing to push for changes that will result in more fairness and equity for all Californians,” said Mano Raju, Public Defender of San Francisco.

The case originated in 2017 when Humphrey was kept in jail because he was unable to pay the $350,000 bail set after his arrest. The San Francisco Public Defender along with Civil Rights Corps represented Humphrey in the subsequent appeals process.

In January 2018, California’s First District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Humphrey, holding that California’s money bail system violated due process and equal protection – a decision that the California Supreme Court affirmed today. Humphrey was released from jail in May 2018.

“As a community that has been torn apart by pretrial detention, we applaud the Supreme Court’s ruling that our loved ones can’t be held because of their inability to pay. But this fight for freedom was never only about ending money bail, it was about freeing our people,” said Alicia Chavez, Participatory Defense Organizer with Silicon Valley De-Bug. “The Supreme Court avoiding the movement’s call to limit who can be stripped of their liberty means that our community will continue to be vulnerable to pretrial incarceration based solely on judicial bias. So our fight for pretrial justice in California continues.”

“Essie Justice Group is a loving and powerful community of women with incarcerated loved ones based in CA. Our members are the women who have shouldered the cost of bail fees and have seen and experienced first hand the devastation caused by our state’s bail system,” said Gina Clayton-Johnson, Executive Director and Founder of Essie Justice Group. “As all Essie members who have had a loved one detained pretrial can tell you – when you are fighting a case from behind bars, you are more likely to take a plea deal, less likely to win your case, and even if you are eventually found innocent – your family may be left financially devastated. Today’s Supreme Court decision matters for the mothers we bail out and for all those who remain behind bars despite being legally innocent. It matters in a history of child separation, class inequity, and racial bias that disproportionately harms Black women.”

The money bail system that California used to detain Humphrey – and used in other states – keeps poorer people in jail for months to years waiting for trial while releasing wealthier people with similar charges. Across the country, over 500,000 people – predominantly Black and Brown folks – are held in pretrial incarceration each night solely because they are poor.

Even though the Court’s decision ending unconstitutional money bail applies only in California, the language the justices used reaffirms that pretrial incarceration should be restricted to only the most limited circumstances. This decision is a step forward in advancing racial justice and ending mass incarceration in California and across the United States.

In January 2021, Deputy Public Defender Anita Nahba and Kenneth Humphrey met to listen to Civil Rights Corps present oral arguments in Re: Kenneth Humphrey in the California Supreme Court. Photo Credit: Larry Roberts.

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Click here to read the CA Supreme Court DecisionDownload

Additional Contacts:

Olka Forster

Essie Justice Group

olka@essiejusticegroup.org

510-956-3604

Aaron Zeiler

Civil Rights Corps

aaron@civilrightscorps.org

904-527-0338

Raj Jayadev

Silicon Valley De-Bug

raj@siliconvalleydebug.org

408-757-5875

Mano Raju receives James Madison Freedom of Information Award – Society of Professional Journalists Recognizes the SF Public Defender CopMonitor Database

Awards
Media

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March 16, 2021

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Mano Raju receives James Madison Freedom of Information Award – Society of Professional Journalists Recognizes the SF Public Defender CopMonitor Database

A Message from Public Defender Mano Raju:

“I am honored to accept the James Madison Freedom of Information Award for our CopMonitor database. Thank you to the Society of Professional Journalist – Freedom of Information Committee of Northern California for recognizing the work of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office in our active pursuit of transparency around policing.

The CopMonitor database comes out of our core work to defend our clients and protect their rights, but it flows into our commitment to the public to share critical information about who is policing our communities. I’m incredibly grateful to our Integrity Unit — Danielle Harris, Zac Dillion, Brian Cox, and Carolyn Goossen; and to Jacque Wilson and Tiffany Le, who filed early requests for many of these records that the public is entitled to see.

Because of our proximity to communities that have the most contact with police, and our mandate to fight for our clients, Public Defenders are uniquely positioned to gather and share public information that for too long has been difficult to access. We hope CopMonitor can be a model for nationwide transparency.”