Oscar Bobrow, Chief Deputy Public Defender in the Vallejo Office, was a former Contra Costa County Deputy Public Defender for 25 years.  Mr. Bobrow received his JD from American University in Washington D.C. and his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara.  While a Deputy Public Defender in Contra Costa County, Mr. Bobrow was primarily assigned to the felony trial division handling cases from the Richmond Branch office including capital cases. Mr. Bobrow has tried to a jury over 100 felonies and was the lead attorney in several challenges to Contra Costa County’s felony jury venire system, establishing in court proceedings that a historical pattern of under representation of African American citizens were, and are, excluded from the jury venires in that county. Mr. Bobrow has been member of the California Public Defender’s Association Board of Governors for many years and served as President in 2019-2020.  He has also served as a member of the California JNE Commission.

Tamani Taylor, Solano County Chief Deputy Public Defender in the Fairfield Office, has been a lawyer in the Solano County Public Defender’s Office since 2007.  Ms. Taylor received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis.  She received her JD from Golden Gate University School of law.  Ms. Taylor has represented clients in juvenile, misdemeanor, felony and death penalty cases.  Ms. Taylor has supervised both misdemeanor and felony lawyers.  She heads two training committees within the Public Defender’s Office.  The New Lawyer Training program is designed to teach new lawyers the practical skills they will need to represent clients in misdemeanor cases.  And, the Felony Transition University.  This program is designed to transition lawyers who represent misdemeanor clients into a felony case assignment. Ms. Taylor is a faculty member for California Public Defender’s Association (CPDA) annual Basic Trial Skills Institute which teaches basic trial skills to lawyers throughout the state.  She is on the California Lawyers Association’s Executive Committee on Criminal Law.  She is also a member of the CPDA planning committee for the annual Capital Defense Seminar, a nationwide seminar on defending capital cases.  Ms. Taylor has been a resident of Solano County since February 1989.