Public Defender Coker Endorses D.A. Dumanis’s Mayoral Run

Defendants who have utilized the public defenders’ office to deal with legal problems in San Diego are up in arms over public defender Henry Coker endorsing D.A. Bonnie Dumanis in the upcoming mayoral race.

Dumanis recently published the news of Coker's support on her campaign website:

"Bonnie Dumanis is solution oriented," Coker is quoted as saying on the website. "She has opened the door to criminal defense attorneys to round table public safety issues, assisted in providing e-discovery to the Office of the Public Defender, and she is the only mayoral candidate with proven executive leadership dedicated to consensus building and high-tech advances, ensuring the City of San Diego will be a better place for the next generation."

Critics contend that Coker and Dumanis are professional adversaries and the public defender should be politically neutral.

Coker and Dumanis are both local graduates of the Thomas Jefferson School of Law — Bonnie Dumanis in 1976 and Henry Coker in 1985.

Photo of Dumanis and Coker from tjsl.edu