San Mateo County incarceration rate 4th lowest in state

“This means that rather than dealing just with the criminal case, looking at the facts and possible defenses, we’re now also looking at the client and the individual circumstances that lead to criminal justice involvement,” Maguire said.

These services, since Maguire’s appointment in 2019, have increased to focus on data collection and transparency, access to and quality of counsel, and offering ancillary services addressing mental health and immigration services. 

Established in 1968, the program provides indigent defense representation to all people facing charges from the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. It is run by the local bar association while most counties in the state have public defender programs that operate similarly to district attorney’s offices.

San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury reports in 2015 and 2020 included recommendations for improvements to finances and operations. Its five-year contract runs through June 30, 2028, and has evolved with new hires and programs.

The PDP now includes 38 contract social workers to help clients with mental health avoid incarceration for extended periods of time rather than receiving proper treatment and support. 

“We are seeing individuals in our community who are struggling with mental health issues being criminalized,” Maguire said. “Now we have attorneys obtaining mental health diversion on clients who would otherwise be facing life imprisonment.”

If a client has never received a diagnosis, PDP works with social workers and doctors to obtain a diagnosis, show how mental illness affected the case, and present a treatment plan to the court to suggest there is a way to avoid this conduct from recurring in the future. 

“Mental health diversion has changed the face of the justice system like nothing else I’ve seen in my 30 years,” Maguire said. 

Another priority area of support for the PDP is to have consistent access to resources for noncitizen clients. A new in-house immigration attorney has been added to the team.   

Supervisor David Canepa mentioned how the district attorney boasts a 90% conviction rate and Maguire said that it’s important to distinguish “what is considered a win.”

Maguire said that if a client is being charged with an intention of serving a lifelong sentence, but ultimately only receives a charge for the smaller offenses that result in maybe a shorter sentence or a fine, this might be logged as a conviction. 

“My concern is that the narrative is aimed at deterring people from taking their chances at trial,” Maguire said. “There is a reality to the idea of a trial tax where people are afraid to exercise their constitutional right to trial.”

Trial results presented by Maguire showed more than half of the clients PDP represented since July 1, 2023, ended with results that are “better than the final and best plea offer.” Eighteen percent ended in a “worse than plea offer” result. 

“It’s sort of a question of how do you define a win,” Maguire said. “Some people might define a win as anything that is called a conviction. We define a win ... as, is the client better off because of our services?” 

Ron Reyes, manager of the PDP juvenile department, reported on the advocacy of the juvenile attorneys for avoiding minors being tried as adults. Since the passage of Proposition 57 in 2016, district attorneys no longer have sole authority to determine what youth could be tried as an adult without judicial supervision. Now, they are entitled to an evidentiary hearing to be transferred to adult court. 

“So far, we had six cases that have been fully litigated and as a direct result of the advocacy and zealous work of our juvenile attorneys, all six of these youth were fully adjudicated and remained in juvenile court,” Reyes said. “We have two cases still pending and we hope to keep those remarkable results going.” 

Ana Ramirez, a participatory defense organizer with Silicon Valley Debug, a social justice organization, said during public comment a letter of opposition to the renewal contract of the PDP was submitted last year. Though she acknowledged the efforts made by PDP since, Ramirez said it’s important to continue paying close attention the program.

“We can see when someone is questioned about their work, they’re incentivized to actually do better, I think that’s what we actually saw today, an attempt to better,” Ramirez said. “But I think that it is still the time to continue to bring them under the light and hold them accountable to ensure that they actually provide quality representation to clients and community members.”