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<font size=3><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: </b>December 7, 2009</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b>
CONTACT:
</b></font> <br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Tamara Barak Aparton</font>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Communications and Policy
Assistant</font> <br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>San Francisco Public
Defender’s Office <br>
415-575-4390 (office)</font> <br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>415-568-0551
(cell)
</font>
<br>
<font size=4><b> <br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>*** PRESS RELEASE
***</b></font><font size=3> <br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b>PUBLIC DEFENDER
SEEKS $2 MILLION <br>
REIMBURSEMENT FOR CITY IN ‘SF-8’ CASE<br><br>
<br>
</b></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>San Francisco,
CA </i>– As San Francisco grapples with a looming budget crisis, Public
Defender Jeff Adachi is seeking $2 million in state reimbursement to the
city for its defense of eight men charged in a 1971 homicide case
involving a police officer. <br><br>
On <b>Tuesday, December 8, </b>Supervisor Eric Mar and Supervisor David
Campos will introduce a resolution at the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors’ meeting, urging state officials to pursue reimbursement in
the case, known as the “SF-8.” <br><br>
Adachi has also asked State Senator Mark Leno to introduce special
legislation asking for the state’s assistance in recouping the $2
million. <br><br>
In 2007, the California Attorney General filed charges against eight
former Black Liberation Army members --- Herman Bell, Ray Boudreaux,
Henry Jones, Jalil Muntaquim (also known as Anthony Bottom), Richard
O’Neal, Harold Taylor and Francisco Torres --- in connection with the
officer’s killing. The charges had been previously dismissed against
several of the men in 1975. <br><br>
Earlier this year, two of the accused accepted plea bargains made by the
Attorney General. Both received probation. The charges against five
others were dismissed. Only Torres’ case is still pending .</font>
<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>The city’s right to
reimbursement is based on the fact that the California Attorney General
took on the 36-year-old case after the San Francisco District Attorney’s
office declined to prosecute. The extraordinarily complex case involved
100,000 pages of documents and necessitated an extensive, multi-state
investigation. <br><br>
“This prosecution was initiated by the state. It’s only fair that the
state bears the cost of the defense,” Adachi said. <br><br>
Other counties have successfully recouped costs in expensive cases
brought by the state. For example, Assembly Bill 139, passed in the
2005-2006 session, reimbursed Stanislaus County for 100 percent of costs
expended in the Scott Peterson trial.</font> <br><br>
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