Home Blog Page 5

SF Jury Acquits Man Wrongly Accused of Commercial Burglary and Possession of Stolen Property

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
SF Jury Acquits Man Wrongly Accused of Commercial Burglary and Possession of Stolen Property

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 30, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT: PDR-MediaRelations@sfgov.org 

**PRESS RELEASE**

SF Jury Acquits Man Wrongly Accused of Commercial Burglary and Possession of Stolen Property

SAN FRANCISCO – On Jan. 24, a San Francisco jury found David Wesser, 37, not guilty of felony charges related to a commercial burglary that took place in July. Deputy Public Defender Christopher Garcia argued that police carried out an incomplete investigation that was riddled with confirmation bias, and ignored the fact that the evidence did not support the allegations against Wesser, who has maintained his innocence and had an alibi.

“As soon as police had it in mind that Mr. Wesser was involved in the incident, they neglected to investigate any further and ignored all evidence contrary to their erroneous theory,” said Garcia.

On the morning of July 22, 2023, three individuals burglarized the San Francisco office of the game company Ubisoft on 3rd Street. Police retrieved a surveillance video of the break-in and later that day spotted some of the stolen property on a sidewalk several blocks away. Wesser was sitting nearby in clothes that resembled those of one of the people in the video of the burglary. Wesser denied being involved in the burglary and asserted that the property nearby did not belong to him. He encouraged the officers to obtain video surveillance from the surrounding buildings to confirm that he had just arrived on the sidewalk after being with his girlfriend all night and morning. Body-worn camera footage showed that officers lied to Wesser, telling him that those cameras were off, but later talked to each other about retrieving footage from those cameras, which they never did. 

During the trial, the prosecution relied on the video of the break-in and on officer testimony, as the police had not collected any fingerprints, DNA, or other forensic evidence from the Ubisoft office or the stolen property. When the arresting officer was testifying for the prosecution, he pointed out many details about the suspect’s clothing to try to show that the person in the video was Wesser. However, under cross-examination, the defense pointed out that the person in the video did not appear to have a tattoo whereas Wesser does. When confronted with this observation, the officer then tried to claim that the video wasn’t very clear. 

Wesser said he has experienced increased harassment from police since 2019, when plainclothes sheriff’s deputies broke down his apartment door with a battering ram and fatally shot his service dog, Ruby. Deputies had stormed his apartment while trying to serve a bench warrant because Wesser had missed a court date. One of the bullets went through Wesser’s hand as he was trying to hold back Ruby, who was barking at the intruders. 

“I am proud of the defense team for their keen attention to detail in a case that could have led to a wrongful conviction of Mr. Wesser, and I am grateful to the jury for returning this verdict,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “While circumstantial evidence can play an important role in many cases, what we saw here was police who neglected to complete an investigation that could have eliminated Mr. Wesser as a suspect.”

The defense team included Deputy Public Defender Christopher Garcia, Paralegal Susan Larsen, and the Public Defender’s Office Investigation Unit.

Deputy Public Defender Christopher Garcia with David Wesser two days after Wesser was acquitted and released from jail in January 2024.

SF Jury Acquits Young Black Man Who Was Racially Profiled and Falsely Accused

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
SF Jury Acquits Young Black Man Who Was Racially Profiled and Falsely Accused

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 17, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT: PDR-MediaRelations@sfgov.org

**PRESS RELEASE**

SF Jury Acquits Young Black Man Who Was Racially Profiled and Falsely Accused 

SAN FRANCISCO – On Jan. 11, a San Francisco jury acquitted Trevon Morgan, 21, after just 45 minutes of deliberations, of a baseless felony charge of attempted robbery of a man’s reading glasses. Morgan, who lost his job as a security guard while awaiting trial for five months, had gotten into a verbal argument with a man who was yelling racial slurs at him when a bystander inserted himself into the argument to side with the other man. The bystander then called the police and claimed that Morgan had threatened him and his property, which was not corroborated by any evidence. 

“The allegations in this case were reminiscent of other “Karen” cases where someone called the police on a Black person who had done nothing wrong. Here, the complaining witness racially profiled Mr. Morgan, who is Black, assumed the worst about him and falsely accused him of wrongdoing based on the color of his skin,” said Deputy Public Defender Ilona Yañez, who represented Morgan. “Police and prosecutors pursued this case without any corroborating evidence of a crime, despite the numerous glaring red flags as to the complaining witness’s credibility, and in so doing perpetuated this vigilante’s racism.”

On the morning of August 24, 2023, Morgan was walking to a store near his home in the inner Sunset District when a person who appeared to be unhoused and mentally ill started yelling racial slurs and following him. The harassment continued after Morgan came out of the store, and it turned into a verbal argument. That’s when a bystander, who is white, drove up alongside them and took the side of the white man who had been yelling at Morgan. The bystander called the police and claimed that Morgan threatened to kill him and rob him, and that Morgan dented his car. None of this was true or supported by evidence. Body-worn camera footage from one of the responding officers showed that even the officer expressed skepticism about the bystander’s claims and that the man admitted that the damage to his car predated the incident when confronted by the officer.  

Nevertheless, police arrested Morgan based on these false accusations, the District Attorney’s Office charged Morgan with felony attempted robbery of the bystander’s reading glasses, and a judge only agreed to release him from custody if he agreed to wear an ankle monitor and be subject to home detention. Due to the pending felony charges, Morgan lost his job as a security guard and was not able to provide for his pregnant girlfriend during that time. 

“When prosecutors bring charges and are unwilling to look at the merit of the evidence, it is severely damaging to the accused and a waste of public resources,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “I appreciate our defense team’s unwavering advocacy of Mr. Morgan and thank the jury for returning a just verdict.” 

##

SF Jury Acquits Unhoused Man Who Defended Himself Against Death Threats and Bear Spray Attack by Marina District Resident

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
SF Jury Acquits Unhoused Man Who Defended Himself Against Death Threats and Bear Spray Attack by Marina District Resident

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 22, 2023

MEDIA CONTACT: PDR-MediaRelations@sfgov.org | Valerie Ibarra, PIO (628)249-7946

**PRESS RELEASE**

SF Jury Acquits Unhoused Man Who Defended Himself Against Death Threats and Bear Spray Attack by Marina District Resident

SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco jury found Garret Doty, 25, not guilty of all three felony assault and battery charges for defending himself against death threats and a bear spray attack by Marina District resident Donald Carmignani on April 5, 2023. Deputy Public Defender Kleigh Hathaway was lead defense counsel and argued that Doty, who is unhoused and had no phone to call the police, was in fear for his life and fought back to protect himself. Jurors heard testimony from 11 witnesses, reviewed chronological surveillance footage of the altercation, and rendered a verdict that Doty was not guilty. 

The incident was widely reported at the time, as Carmignani’s attorneys released select video footage of the incident which did not include footage of how the altercation began. Evidence and testimony later revealed that Carmignani first went after Doty with bear spray, where he also threatened to stab and kill him if he didn’t move his belongings in two hours. When Carmignani left, Doty tried to move his belongings and also obtained a metal rod from a garbage bin for protection. Carmignani returned fifteen minutes later where he stood against a building and baited Doty to come closer before spraying him again and instigating the ensuing altercation. 

“From the beginning, it was clear to me that Mr. Doty was acting in self defense against Mr. Carmignani, who not only had the audacity to attack Mr. Doty with bear spray and then threatened to stab and kill Mr. Doty, but also presented himself as unwilling to back down from a fight that he had started,” said Hathaway. “Self-defense can be fierce because the brain goes into survival mode, and that fear response is sadly heightened for unhoused people, like Mr. Doty, who live in constant exposure.”

The lead police investigator’s report of the Doty case included information about eight other pepper spray attacks on unhoused people in the neighborhood that were noted as “possibly related.” Hathaway received these reports as part of the evidence turned over by the District Attorney’s Office. One report included a video of a man spraying a person who was sleeping on the sidewalk on Carmignani’s block of Magnolia Street in November 2021. A neighbor testified that police obtained that video after he called 911 to assist the person who had been sprayed. Carmignani’s ex-mother-in-law also testified under subpoena that she had called police in May 2023 to identify the assailant in the video as her former son-in-law. 

Carmignani did not testify in Doty’s trial, but did testify during the preliminary hearing where he invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination whenever he was questioned about any prior use of pepper or bear spray. 

“I commend Mr. Doty’s defense team for boldly confronting the disinformation that was spread at the onset of this case,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “So often our indigent clients are wrongly accused when they are actually the victims of violence and harassment because they do not have the social clout of those who may dehumanize them.”  

The defense team included Deputy Public Defenders Kleigh Hathaway and Tamani Taylor, Investigator Collin Olsen, Paralegal Sandra Reyna, and Post-Bar Fellow Megan Votaw.

##

Charges Dropped Against Man Shot Five Times by Police After Prosecutors Determine They Cannot Prove Their Case

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
Charges Dropped Against Man Shot Five Times by Police After Prosecutors Determine They Cannot Prove Their Case

*This press released was updated on 12/21/23 at 2:30pm.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 21, 2023

MEDIA CONTACT: PDR-MediaRelations@sfgov.org 

**PRESS RELEASE**

Charges Dropped Against Man Shot Five Times by Police After Prosecutors Determine They Cannot Prove Their Case

SAN FRANCISCO – On Thursday, the District Attorney’s Office dismissed all charges against Richard Everett, who was shot multiple times by police on Aug. 28. Prosecutors dismissed the case, citing the absence of a material witness after one of the responding police officers refused to testify about the lethal violence used by police that night. The dismissal comes two days after opening statements and initial evidence was presented in Everett’s trial.

Deputy Public Defenders Nuha Abusamra and Anthony Gedeon represented Everett, who was exhibiting signs of a mental health crisis on Aug. 28, did not injure anyone, and was not told he was under arrest before police shot him for trying to walk away. The District Attorney’s Office subsequently charged Everett with resisting arrest, threatening an officer, and carrying a knife. The DA’s office also asked a judge to keep the jury from hearing evidence about the fact that police shot Everett, but the judge did not grant that request. 

“Today’s dismissal illustrates why Mr. Everett should have never been charged and incarcerated since August of 2023,” said Abusamra. “The dismissal today is the right result, but we should question why it took so long to get here.” 

On Aug. 28, members of the San Francisco Police Department shot Richard Everett, 54, after being dispatched to the scene regarding a man with a knife in the Tenderloin neighborhood. Everett was taken to San Francisco General Hospital and placed under arrest. He has been jailed since August, with intermittent hospital visits to attend to the severe injuries he suffered from the five gunshot wounds he sustained, including to his lung and right hand. 

After the SFPD held a town hall several days after the shooting and released footage from officers’ body-worn cameras, Abusamra commented: “The footage of the police shooting Mr. Everett is gruesome. When the police closed off the 300 block of Jones Street and surrounded Mr. Everett, they were not in danger. Police spent roughly 15 minutes giving him conflicting commands, both asking him to drop the knife and then telling him he could keep it. When Mr. Everett tried to slowly walk away while holding a milk crate in one hand and his duffel bag in the other, police opened fire with both less-lethal and lethal rounds in quick succession. That is not de-escalation. That is an attempt to execute him.”

“We’ve seen time and again that police too often resort to violence when interacting with vulnerable individuals like Mr. Everett. This is why San Francisco needs alternatives to policing to better attend to community safety,” said Brian Cox, Director of the Public Defender’s Office Integrity Unit.  

##

On Dec. 21, 2023, Richard Everett (center) stands with his defense attorneys from the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office to celebrate the dismissal of the charges against him, which came two days after opening arguments and initial evidence was presented in his trial. In August 2023, SFPD surrounded and shot Mr. Everett in the Tenderloin, sending him to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. He was placed under arrest and has been in custody since the incident.

San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Files Racial Justice Act Claim in Police Shooting Case

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Files Racial Justice Act Claim in Police Shooting Case

San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Files Racial Justice Act Claim in Police Shooting Case

SFPD confronted Jose Corvera, who was riding a bike while pushing another bike, based on racial bias; Police carried out dangerous, unnecessary shootout

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is pursuing a Racial Justice Act (RJA) claim on behalf of 52-year-old Jose Corvera, who was racially profiled by San Francisco Police officers. Corvera faced trial in early November and a judge declared a mistrial after the jury hung. Several jurors expressed that they felt police confronted him for racially motivated reasons. The RJA hearing is set for Dec. 13. The San Francisco District Attorney’s office is pursuing another trial that is scheduled to begin Dec. 29. 

Police pursued and confronted Corvera on Aug. 6, 2022 in the Mission District after seeing him riding a bike while pushing another bike on the sidewalk. Corvera suffers from serious mental health issues and speaks limited English. Corvera possessed a replica gun that shot blanks; it went off three times, one instance was when he dropped it. Rather than using de-escalation strategies like creating time and distance as required under SFPD policy, four officers began shooting at Corvera while barking confusing orders in English. Police sprayed the residential area with bullets, even shooting at homes and through the windshield of their own police cruiser. Police also brought two military-style armored vehicles to the scene. 

“Mr. Corvera was unjustly singled out by the police based on racial stereotypes of Latinx people, of the unhoused, and of their rights to possess things like bikes,” said Deputy Public Defender Kathleen Natividad. “It’s extremely unlikely police would have treated a white person the same way. It was unfair and prejudicial to presume that his possession of the bikes must be connected to a criminal act like theft. Making matters worse, police reacted to Mr. Corvera’s mental health crisis with an aggressive, militarized response that put local residents in danger.”

California’s Racial Justice Act allows a person charged with a crime to challenge racial bias in their cases. On Dec. 13, the court will decide whether Corvera has made a strong enough preliminary argument to hold a further hearing that will look closer at whether the charges were based on race, ethnicity and/or national origin. If the court determines that charges were in violation of the RJA, it could reduce or dismiss the charges. The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office also plans to file a complaint about the police conduct in this case with the city Department of Police Accountability.

“It’s important to call out racial bias, and we urge the court to grant Mr. Corvera the opportunity to make his case that race played a role in how police reacted to him,” said elected San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “We also urge the District Attorney’s Office to dismiss this case, as it’s clear jurors are likely to once again decide that the police’s actions were racially motivated and improper.”

## 

Public Defenders Across Calif. Urge State Supreme Court to Uphold its 2021 Bail Ruling and to Reject Efforts to Undermine It

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
Public Defenders Across Calif. Urge State Supreme Court to Uphold its 2021 Bail Ruling and to Reject Efforts to Undermine It

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 14, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: 

SF Public Defender’s Office | PubDef-MediaRelations@sfgov.org | jessie.seyfer@sfgov.org | (415) 851-2212 

**PRESS RELEASE**

Public Defenders Across Calif. Urge State Supreme Court to Uphold its 2021 Bail Ruling and to Reject Efforts to Undermine It

Lower courts have been disregarding high court’s ruling that brought more fairness to bail process

SAN FRANCISCO — Public Defenders across California are urging the California Supreme Court to stop lower courts from undermining its landmark 2021 ruling in Humphrey, which held that setting bail at an amount a person cannot afford is unconstitutional. 

Despite the High Court’s Humphrey ruling, many courts continued detaining accused individuals by setting bail they cannot afford. Now, a 2022 appeals court ruling, known as Kowalczyk, also threatens to undermine Humphrey. The California Supreme Court has accepted Kowalczyk for review, and a coalition of public defenders filed an amicus brief Nov. 7 urging the California Supreme Court to reverse Kowalczyk and strongly affirm its Humphrey ruling. Misdemeanor cases form a huge portion of California criminal court matters, so the way the High Court rules in the Kowalczyk case could affect hundreds of thousands of Californians. 

“The California Supreme Court should be offended by the Kowalczyk court’s unwarranted expansion of pretrial detention, which thwarts the High Court’s clear directive in Humphrey that setting unaffordable bail is unconstitutional,” said Sujung Kim, manager of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Research Unit. “The Supreme Court should overturn Kowalczyk, which emboldens courts across the state to continue disregarding and misinterpreting Humphrey, placing hundreds of thousands of Californians at risk of pretrial detention simply because they are poor. The High Court must set a bright-line rule that folks charged with non-violent misdemeanor crimes should never be jailed pretrial.” 

The amicus coalition includes the California Public Defenders Association, Alameda and San Francisco counties’ Public Defender offices, and the Los Angeles County Alternate Defender’s office.

The Humphrey ruling sets out limited circumstances under which a person accused of a crime can be detained pretrial. Kowalczyk effectively expands those exceptions. However, the California Constitution and state law have long enshrined the right to bail as a mechanism for release in all offenses except death penalty cases. In its amicus brief, the coalition of state public defender organizations argue that Kowalczyk, if upheld, would result in a dramatic and unjust expansion of pretrial detentions.  

“Most people recognize that it’s not fair to have a two-tiered legal system—one for the poor, who get detained pretrial because they can’t afford bail, and one for the rich, who can,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “Unnecessarily detaining people pretrial or setting unaffordable money bail takes a severe financial toll on people and their families, and exacerbates the legal system’s already egregious racial inequities.” 

Pretrial detention is expensive, destabilizes people’s lives and gives prosecutors an unfair advantage in plea negotiations, as people in jail are more likely to plead to a crime, even if they are innocent, so they can get out of jail. In Humphrey, the California Supreme Court recognized that “the disadvantages to remaining incarcerated pending resolution of criminal charges are immense and profound.” 

“In a time when many politicians are stoking fears around public safety, it’s important to realize that detaining individuals pretrial is actually more likely to result in a person becoming involved with the criminal legal system again,” said Kathleen Guneratne, assistant public defender at the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office. “If we are serious about making our legal system less racist and about making communities stronger and safer, we need to make sure our courts are not rolling back pretrial protections.” 

## 

Jury Acquits Unhoused Man Who Defended Himself Against Repeated Threats by an Inebriated Pedestrian

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
Jury Acquits Unhoused Man Who Defended Himself Against Repeated Threats by an Inebriated Pedestrian

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 13, 2023

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

**PRESS RELEASE**

Jury Acquits Unhoused Man Who Defended Himself Against Repeated Threats by an Inebriated Pedestrian

Hasira Sutton spent over 500 days in jail amid court delays

SAN FRANCISCO – On Nov. 3, a San Francisco jury acquitted Hasira Sutton, an unhoused man who defended himself against repeated acts of aggression and threats by an inebriated pedestrian near Union Square in June 2022. Deputy Public Defenders Alexa Horner and Christopher Garcia represented Sutton, who spent over 500 days in jail until a jury acquitted him of all felony charges and hung on two misdemeanor counts. The District Attorney’s Office dismissed the final counts on Nov. 7.  

“We thank the jury for evaluating the evidence and understanding that Mr. Sutton acted in self-defense in response to repeated acts of aggression by the pedestrian that night,” said Horner. Although the prosecutor played a surveillance video clip to the jury that showed the encounter between Sutton and the pedestrian that led to Sutton’s arrest, the defense played more comprehensive footage that showed an encounter from earlier that evening. 

The comprehensive footage from the night of June 14, 2022, shows the pedestrian and a group of friends leaving a bar and then yelling and threatening Sutton who was waiting to cross the street at the intersection of Post and Taylor. Sutton told them to leave him alone and walked away. The group continued to follow Sutton and threaten him while he repeatedly asked them to leave him alone. Eventually the group leaves and Sutton lies down on the sidewalk to fall asleep. Sutton sleeps on the sidewalk for over an hour until the pedestrian returns and wakes him up. The man begins gesticulating and moving toward Sutton, who testified that the man was cursing at him and saying that he wanted to fight. The man continued to move closer before Sutton hit him several times in quick succession in self-defense. 

Although the pedestrian testified that he had 3 to 4 beers at a bar with friends earlier in the evening, his blood alcohol level tested by paramedics at the scene showed it was .327, which is more than four times the legal limit for driving. 

Sutton testified that he has been homeless for several years and has been the victim of violence dozens of times. Years prior, he had been a college football player, but was hospitalized after being attacked. The defense team called expert witnesses who affirmed that people who are unhoused and those who have been victims of violent crime often develop a heightened sense of danger, which helped explain the need to use self-defense against the aggressor. 

“Early media reports on this case were biased against our client and lacked important context, which is why it’s so important for our office to set the record straight in light of this acquittal,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “Jury trials provide the opportunity for San Franciscans to do the important work of scrutinizing the state’s evidence and reaching a just and lawful outcome, which they’ve done here for Mr. Sutton.” 

Client Advocacy

Sutton’s defense team was able to track down family members who had lost touch with him. One relative was able to fly in to hear the jury return a verdict of not guilty and to welcome Sutton on his release from jail after 507 days in custody. Public Defender social workers are making efforts to identify potential housing options for Sutton.

The defense team included Deputy Public Defenders Alexa Horner and Christopher Garcia, Investigator Jill Schroeder, Paralegals Sercan Ersoy and Chris Koubek, and Social Worker Angela Lagman. 

##

Two Juries Acquit Man Who Defended Himself Against Shopkeeper While Trying to Use Shop Bathroom 

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
Two Juries Acquit Man Who Defended Himself Against Shopkeeper While Trying to Use Shop Bathroom 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 7, 2023

MEDIA CONTACT: PubDef-MediaRelations@sfgov.org | Valerie Ibarra, PIO (628)249-7946

**PRESS RELEASE**

Two Juries Acquit Man Who Defended Himself Against Shopkeeper While Trying to Use Shop Bathroom 

Final Charge Dismissed Last Week

SAN FRANCISCO – On Nov. 3, the District Attorney’s Office dismissed the final charge against Donovan Catron, who in June 2021 defended himself against a shopkeeper who physically ejected Catron in response to his attempt to access the shop’s bathroom. Catron spent over two years in county jail and was tried twice at great taxpayer expense. In January, a jury acquitted Catron of elder abuse, and in September, a second jury acquitted him of assault and rejected the district attorney’s theory that a knife was used. Both juries hung on the charge of mayhem, a legal term describing disfigurement, due to an eye injury the shopkeeper suffered during the encounter. Catron remained jailed two months past his last trial before prosecutors dismissed the final charge last week. 

In both trials, Deputy Public Defenders Patrick Geddes (January) and Anthony Miziko (September) respectively argued that surveillance footage showed Catron was not the aggressor and had acted in lawful self-defense after the shopkeeper tried to physically throw him out of the shop. 

“We thank both juries for carefully reviewing the evidence and recognizing that, although Mr. Catron was unwanted in the shop, he was acting in self-defense after being punched, pushed, and having several clumps of his hair pulled out by the shopkeeper,” said Miziko. “By waiting two months after his last trial to dismiss the remaining charge, the prosecution further delayed justice for Mr. Catron, whose speedy trial rights had already been violated by the court.”

Despite Catron asserting his Constitutional right to a speedy trial, SF Superior Court delayed his first trial for 18 months past the deadline. Catron then had to wait another nine months after prosecutors asked for a retrial on the charges that hung in the first trial. After the second trial, prosecutors announced their intention to pursue a third trial on the mayhem charge, so Catron remained jailed two more months before the charge was dismissed. In total, Mr. Catron was forced to spend nearly two and a half years in jail in near-lockdown conditions with no sunlight.

“This case not only underscores the importance of holding speedy trials, but also highlights how unjust and wasteful such aggressive prosecutions can be,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, whose office has been advocating for SF Superior Court to end its pandemic-era practice of continuing trials past their Constitutionally mandated deadline without good cause. “I commend the defense teams for the time and determination it took to properly try the case twice.”

The defense team included Deputy Public Defender Anthony Miziko, Investigator Cari Phillips, former San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Patrick Geddes, and paralegal staff. 

##

SF Public Defender’s Office Condemns Traumatic Federal Arrests of Young Mothers Attending Hearings at Hall of Justice

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
SF Public Defender’s Office Condemns Traumatic Federal Arrests of Young Mothers Attending Hearings at Hall of Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 1, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: PubDef-MediaRelations@sfgov.org | Public Relations Officer Jessie.Seyfer@sfgov.org | (415) 851-2212 

**PRESS STATEMENT**

SF Public Defender’s Office Condemns Traumatic Federal Arrests of Young Mothers Attending Hearings at Hall of Justice

District Attorney’s referral of cases to federal agents deters people from showing up to court, skirts Sanctuary policy, opens the door to abuses by ICE, and undercuts due process

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is condemning the recent surprise arrest of our clients by federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents at the Hall of Justice. On Oct. 19, two of our clients, who are both young mothers with no criminal history, came to their court hearings to address state charges brought by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. Instead, plainclothes DEA agents coordinated with a manager at the DA’s Office to arrest them at the courthouse. The women were handcuffed, transported out of county, and charged in federal court in connection to the same alleged crimes. Federal prosecutors later dismissed charges against one of the women for reasons that are unclear. Both women have young children and are the victims of gender-based violence.

“The unnecessary and traumatic arrests of these two young women represent the cruel and wasteful efforts of authorities behind the War on Drugs,” said elected San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “These actions are a threat to due process, not only for these women, but for others who may be deterred from doing the responsible thing by coming to court. Because of these arrests, young children were separated from their mothers, and that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how federal authorities callously separate families, causing harm that can impact generations.”

Since August 1, at least three other individuals have seen their local drug-related charges dismissed by state prosecutors and re-filed in federal court, where sentences tend to be far longer, and where individuals are more likely to be deported if they are undocumented or are lawful permanent residents. 

San Francisco’s Sanctuary City Ordinance prohibits local agencies from assisting or colluding with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct civil immigration investigations, detentions or arrests. However, by referring cases to federal prosecutors, the District Attorney’s office and San Francisco police are seeking to evade Sanctuary laws. Within hours of the federal arrests, individuals have been offered so-called “fast-track” deals, in which they can plead to a federal charge in order to be swiftly transferred to ICE detention, where they can be deported with little to no due process.

“The actions by the DEA to dramatically seize our clients in local court and to federally charge them and others is more a deportation scheme than it is a way to solve the global overdose crisis,” said Francisco Ugarte, who heads the San Francisco Public Defender’s office Immigration Unit. “Drug use and addiction are public health issues. Stiffer penalties and tough-on-crime approaches have no measurable success in reducing drug availability or overdoses, nor does deportation.”

Angela Chan, an assistant chief attorney who heads the SF Public Defender’s Office policy team, added: “Rather than provide resources for evidence-based solutions like drug treatment and harm reduction programs that directly reduce overdoses, the city is scapegoating immigrants and attempting to undermine our longstanding, broadly supported Sanctuary Ordinance. Our city should not be spending its resources to funnel immigrants into horrendous conditions in ICE detention. Our Sanctuary law is an expression of San Francisco’s commitment to human rights and against discrimination. Most importantly, Sanctuary is a public safety tool that makes our communities safer.”

Several San Francisco Public Defender clients who have been accused of selling drugs have in fact been labor trafficked and were coerced through threats of harm to themselves and their families. California law allows people accused of committing crimes to defend themselves against state charges by presenting evidence that they were acting under such duress. Three recent San Francisco trials, in which individuals accused of selling drugs testified and provided evidence that they had been trafficked and coerced, resulted in hung juries and dismissals of the charges. 

###

SF Public Defender Responds to Newsom Opioid Task Force Announcement

Office of the Public Defender
-
0
SF Public Defender Responds to Newsom Opioid Task Force Announcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 27, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: PubDef-MediaRelations@sfgov.org | Public Relations Officer Jessie.Seyfer@sfgov.org | (415) 851-2212 

**PRESS STATEMENT**

SF Public Defender Responds to Newsom Opioid Task Force Announcement

Leaders ignore evidence in favor of failed War on Drugs tactics

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, Gov. Gavin Newsom, SF Mayor London Breed, SF District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and SFPD Chief Bill Scott announced the formation of a new law enforcement task force to investigate and prosecute opioid-linked deaths in the city. Mano Raju, elected public defender for San Francisco, issues the following statement in response: 

“We are deeply concerned that many San Franciscans have had their lives profoundly harmed by fentanyl overdoses, including many of our clients and their families. The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is actively working to address this crisis through our End the Cycle program, whereby our social workers are connecting our clients to supportive services. However, the task force announced today is another step in the wrong direction toward the continued revival of the failed War on Drugs in SF. 

Since the opioid public health crisis began in our city about three years ago, law enforcement and city leaders have formed numerous task forces that have enacted War on Drugs tactics, and overdoses have only increased. In fact, San Francisco is on track to reach a record number of overdoses this year. Relying on police and prosecutions to arrest and cage our way out of a public health crisis remains in direct conflict with decades of social and scientific data that show that these tactics do not work. 

Threatening to charge people with murder is unfortunately likely to result in more overdoses, as people will be afraid to call for help. A report from Fair and Just Prosecution notes that such prosecutions ‘do not alleviate the risk of fatal overdoses; are ineffective as a deterrent to drug use, drug sales, and overdose deaths; can be legally problematic and consume significant resources; often target friends and family members; and worsen racial disparities in the system.’ The Drug Policy Alliance concluded that ‘drug-induced homicide prosecutions waste resources that could be spent on effective interventions.’

We need to invest in harm reduction methods including life-saving tools like Narcan and fentanyl testing strips; on-demand and low-barrier substance use and mental health treatment; stable housing; long-term education investments; and job training to heal our community. We urge leaders who are concerned by the rise in opioid overdoses to prioritize evidence-based public health strategies rather than throwing more public resources at a punitive approach that has failed time and time again.”

##

1...456...86Page 5 of 86
© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv