David Coleman is a native of West Virginia. Mr. Coleman earned a B.A. with honors in Political Science & Economics from Yale College in 1967, and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1971.

In 1974, Mr. Coleman joined the Department and worked in many assignments as both a staff attorney, a Supervising Attorney since 1985, and Chief Assistant Public Defender from 1989 to 1999 when he was appointed Public Defender. In addition to his management duties over the years, Mr. Coleman has tried scores of felony and misdemeanor cases, argued cases before the 9th Circuit, the California Supreme Court and the First District Court of Appeal. Since 1980, Mr. Coleman has been lead counsel in eight capital trials.

Mr. Coleman was an adjunct professor at Boalt Hall School of Law for over 20 years where he taught Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and Advanced Criminal Procedure. He is currently a Senior Fellow in the Center for Social Justice at Boalt Hall. He has authored many articles in criminal justice publications in California.

Mr. Coleman currently serves on the California Judicial Council’s Criminal Law Committee and on the Board of Directors for the First District Appellate Project. Mr. Coleman is a member of the California Public Defender’s Association, the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, the Contra Costa County Bar Association, the Robert McGrath Inns of Court and the Charles Houston Bar Association.

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