SF Public Defenders win first Racial Justice Act motion in San Francisco

Judge grants motion finding implicit bias with police officer’s testimony

San Francisco – San Francisco Public Defenders have won the first California Racial Justice Act (RJA) motion in San Francisco since the law was enacted in 2021. An RJA hearing for a young Black man revealed that a police officer exhibited implicit bias during the man’s arrest and during trial testimony. This led the judge to reduce certain felony convictions to misdemeanors as a remedy for that discrimination, as provided under the RJA.    

The California Racial Justice Act states: “Implicit bias, although often unintentional and unconscious, may inject racism and unfairness into proceedings similar to intentional bias. The intent of the Legislature is not to punish this type of bias, but rather to remedy the harm to the defendant’s case and to the integrity of the judicial system.” 

“Implicit bias plays a huge role in our legal system — from police to prosecutors to judges — and has historically resulted in the over-policing, over-charging and over-sentencing of people of color,” said Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward, who represented Adonte Bailey, who was granted relief under the RJA. 

Bailey, a 22-year-old Black man, was on trial for an incident involving a report of someone holding a gun while standing on the street. Evidence at trial showed that when police eventually arrested Bailey, the officer said on body-worn camera that he was “a little surprised he didn’t run.” When the officer later testified at trial, he painted an untrue picture of Bailey as acting evasive — telling the jury that Bailey was “ducking” and “bobbing” and had “darted” — which was contradicted by video footage of Bailey being cooperative and by other witnesses’ testimony. The officer also ignored the court’s orders and made unsolicited statements that he had been notified were inadmissible in front of the jury. 

Bailey’s attorneys filed a motion arguing that the arresting officer violated the RJA by his comments and actions at the arrest scene and in his trial testimony. 

During the RJA hearing, an expert witness on race and the criminal legal system testified that the officer exhibited implicit bias in several ways that can appeal to and reinforce racial bias and stereotypes in the minds of jurors. 

“The cumulative effect of the officer’s racially-coded words and discriminatory language amounted to a violation of the Racial Justice Act,” said Deputy Public Defender Lilah Wolf, who argued the RJA motion in court. “While our office has always challenged instances of more explicit racial animus toward our clients, the Racial Justice Act now empowers us to address this kind of insidious implicit bias that undercuts due process and perpetuates the unfair treatment of Black and Brown people in the criminal legal system.”

“We hope that this ruling stands as a testament to the power of the California Racial Justice Act that we can win these motions and help challenge unjust convictions and sentences,” said Mano Raju, San Francisco’s elected Public Defender. “I commend our team of public defenders for being stalwart defenders of justice and holding the line to stop implicit bias from having undue influence over the lives of our clients.” 

Since the Racial Justice Act went into effect, San Francisco public defenders have filed RJA motions in numerous cases, but few have resulted in judges granting evidentiary hearings. This was the first RJA motion in San Francisco Superior Court that has led to a judge issuing remedies for the accused person.

This groundbreaking legal achievement was a collaboration of the Defense and Research units of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. Bailey’s trial team was led by Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward, Investigator Aubria Jefferson, Paralegal Susan Larsen, and Felony Unit Manager Elizabeth Camacho. Deputy Public Defender Lilah Wolf argued the successful Racial Justice Act motion at Bailey’s evidentiary hearing with contributions from Deputy Public Defender Oliver Kroll and Research Director Sujung Kim.  

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