Defender

Directed by Jeff Adachi

A feature film about criminal justice, through the eyes of SF Public Defender Jeff Adachi.

Jeff Adachi is a public defender in San Francisco who takes on the misdemeanor case of 22-year-old Michael Smith, who pleaded not guilty in one of the first body camera cases in the city when he was charged with nine counts of resisting arrest. This urgent documentary shows how far Adachi and his team will fight for the young man’s freedom while exposing black-crime bias in ostensibly liberal SF.