PRESUMED GUILTY chronicles a year of trench warfare in the jails, holding cells, and courts of San Francisco as public defenders fight to uphold justice in the criminal justice system. In a war to protect the rights and freedom of the accused these embattled lawyers clash daily with police, district attorneys, Judges, and even their own clients. The San Francisco public defenders inhabit a murky world somewhere between truth and lies, where the only certainty is that each and every day can bring a new and bitter fight. Three years of filming yielded 2 high profile murder trials with the high courtroom drama and intimate moments of privileged conversations between the public defenders and their defendants, as together they face the uncertainty of the criminal justice system. (A Skylight Pictures, Inc./KQED Channel 9 co-production) To read more about the directors and the film, please visit the traveling festival section of our site.

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