Not many people would come to the defense of a convicted drunk driver. However, San Francisco's inebriated drivers might find themselves off the hook for their crime -- and if so, they have Public Defender Jeff Adachi to thank.
Adachi today officially filed a legal challenge that accuses the San Francisco Police Department of improperly administering field sobriety tests, which then tainted DUI convictions for hundreds -- if not thousands -- of convicted drivers.
Adachi -- who is best known for his crusade against San Francisco police -- said his office will begin reviewing up to 1,000 cases after an examination of police records revealed that police failed to maintain accuracy readings of the Preliminary Alcohol Screening devices since at least 2006.
Adachi's legal challenge today deals with one questionable case, and there are hundreds more to follow. "We have prioritized these 150 cases because some clients only have a six-month window to withdraw their guilty pleas and ask for a review," Adachi said. "This is the first step to providing legal relief to hundreds of people who may have been wrongly convicted."
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