Loretta Johnson

The Office of the State Public Defender was created by the California Legislature in 1976 to represent indigent criminal defendants on appeal. Since 1990, OSPD’s mandate has been to exclusively focus on death penalty cases. We litigate these cases on appeal in the California Supreme Court and in the United States Supreme Court on certiorari petitions. The work of the office is often at the cutting edge of criminal law. We frequently appear in the California Supreme Court and have represented men and women on death row in the United States Supreme Court in a half dozen cases where certiorari review was granted. We have been responsible for major developments in the areas of capital litigation, due process, right to counsel, confessions, jury selection, search and seizure, sentencing, and many other issues. The office prides itself on the diversity of its lawyers and is striving to preserve and improve upon that diversity. OSPD’s Outreach Directory has become a model for the State of California and has been borrowed and used by numerous government and nongovernment entities in their own outreach efforts. The agency draws its lawyers from many colleges, universities, and law schools. The attorneys come from a wide variety of backgrounds: from county and federal public defender offices, appellate court staffs, other public interest agencies and groups, and the private sector. State Public Defender alumni include three state court judges, the directors and many of the staff members of the California Appellate Projects, the Central California Appellate Project and First District Appellate Project, as well as many prominent attorneys in the private criminal defense and civil bars. The work of the Office of the State Public Defender is complex and challenging, and presents a unique personal and professional opportunity for those who choose a career in postconviction criminal defense.