S.F. public defender detained outside court; office outraged

Career suicide?
Discuss.....

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...rt-6046088.php

Quote:

---

S.F. public defender detained outside court; office outraged
By Vivian Ho Updated 5:44 pm, Wednesday, January 28, 2015




A San Francisco deputy public defender was handcuffed and arrested at the Hall of Justice after she objected to city police officers questioning her client outside a courtroom, an incident that her office called outrageous and police officials defended as appropriate.
The Tuesday afternoon arrest of attorney Jami Tillotson as she denied police officers’ attempts to take photos of her client without explanation raised questions about police intimidation and harassment, Public Defender Jeff Adachi said at a Wednesday news conference.
But police said the five officers, led by a plainclothes sergeant, were investigating a burglary case in which Tillotson’s client and his co-defendant were considered persons of interest. Tillotson was cited for misdemeanor resisting or delaying arrest because she obstructed a police investigation, officials said..........

---

She intervened while SF PD was committing a constitutional violation. False arrest by SF PD, I'd hope that she would sue them.

This should be interesting.

She may not have been their attorney for the case being investigated. Just because an attorney is representing someone in one case does not automatically make them their attorney for any subsequent case under investigation. IMO, she should have advised her clients to walk away and not talk to the police. Depending on the circumstances, the police may have had justification for a brief investigative stop, but that was not clear from the story.

I would bet that no charges are ever filed against the female attorney. She will probably sue the police department for false arrest, but I'm not familiar enough with San Francisco City policies on dealing with civil suites to guess how that will go.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrPrena

Career suicide?
Discuss.....

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...rt-6046088.php

---

She would not be the first lawyer to get hooked up for obstruction. The street is not the place to argue the constitutionality of a stop or detention pursuant to an investigation, that's what court is for. She will probably not get charged, and then spend the next 4 years in civil action against SFPD and the city.

Seems like a lot of things happening here:
1. The two suspects were recognized by an officer that was there for another reason. He appeared to want photos for a line up. This appears to involve a different case. Could do photos there or downtown without arresting and filing charges, simply detaining a person of interest, easier to do there at court house.
2. The public defender that was representing the two suspects was "appointed" to rep them for something else, she was not appointed to rep them for the new case. She would need to be appointed before she truly is their attorney paid for by us in the new matter. The two suspects would need to be arrested before they need an attorney. The two suspects were never arrested for the new case and therefore do not need a public defender appointed.
3. The cop was an idiot for arresting the public defender unless she physically intervened.
4. I have no idea if it is ok to take photos of somebody for a lineup without being advised of your rights?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Big E3

4. I have no idea if it is ok to take photos of somebody for a lineup without being advised of your rights?

---

Normally, there is no expectation of privacy in your physical appearance, so if you are in public, just about anyone may take a photograph of you. There are no absolutes and as with most things there are exceptions, however, most of us have no recourse to being photographed by anyone in public.

I would assume the subjects the detective was interested were arrested for their prior offense and booking photos would be on file as well as DMV photos if they have government issued IDs. If the detective needed current photographs, there are other methods that he could have used to obtain them. The public defender acted predictably and I hope everyone notes that she behaved exactly as she should have once she was advised that she was under arrest and to turn around and place her hands behind her back. No one was injured during that arrest. Her racial background played no factor as far as I could tell. The issue will be addressed in a courtroom. Everyone goes home that night and no one ended up in a hospital or morgue. [Flower]

Be safe.

1. She is SF Deputy Public Defendant. She works for the city. I think city will approach her first before she even files civil action.
2.This went viral, and has a national focus. After she gets an apology from SFPD, she will probably give a warm sincere forgiveness on the TV, and run for a SF DA election on 11/3/15. Looks like it is not too late. Perfect media exposure+perfect timing to run.

http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=4701
http://sfgov2.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/...llCalendar.pdf

Doesn't every attorney have 100 letters of representation rolled up in their pocket, ready for deployment at a moments notice?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cstone

Everyone goes home that night and no one ended up in a hospital or morgue. [Flower]

Be safe.

---

^^^^^
And that is the bottom line on this one folks.

Seems like there was enough "stupid" to go around for everyone on this one.