San Francisco public defender facing sanctions over workload stance – NBC Bay Area

Twenty-six counts of contempt of court and a $26,000 fine.

That’s the penalty a San Francisco judge has ordered for the city’s public defender.

Mano Raju said his office is overwhelmed with cases and has been refusing some new ones. A judge said the public defender could take more cases, but is choosing not to.

Ahead of a Tuesday hearing, Raju rallied a loud group of supporters, mostly staff from his office, and several fellow chief public defenders from other counties. The group said they are overloaded with cases and the other side is outspending them.

“The District Attorney’s Office has $39 million more than the Public Defender’s Office in San Francisco,” Raju said. “In addition to criminal defense, we also provide immigrant defense against deportation from federal authorities. We also provide mental health advocacy for people in mental health court with the city attorney on the other side.”

Chief public defenders from other counties all agreed their offices are facing similar caseloads. They are feeling the effects of recent “tougher on crime” priorities at many DA’s offices.

Public defenders’ offices do not take all of the cases that DA’s prosecute.

Representatives from San Francisco, San Joaquin and Alameda counties said they take about 70% to 80% of the cases.

In May, Raju decided to refuse taking certain cases, citing heavy workloads for his office.

Private attorneys were assigned through the San Francisco Bar Association, but then they began refusing cases after a few months.

Late last year, Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman convened a hearing on the issue and in January he found the Public Defender’s Office does have capacity to take cases and ordered them to do so.

But since that order, public defenders have refused 26 cases. Dorfman on Tuesday decided each one is a separate contempt of court charge with a $1,000 fine each.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins agrees with the judge’s decision.

“Not only did the court conduct a comprehensive hearing of the staffing and workload levels at the Public Defender’s Office, but we had the Controller’s Office do an audit,” Jenkins said. “And they drafted a report. And they reached the same conclusion that they have sufficient staff to deal with the caseloads that they have.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, Raju’s attorney asked the judge to put the fine on hold while they appeal.

Dorfman refused and gave Raju 10 business days to pay it.