Well-Known Lawyer Heads To Prison

Mar. 21 - KGO (KGO) -- ABC7 sits down with a prominent San Francisco defense attorney who couldn't keep himself out of jail.

Whether you consider him notable or notorious, criminal defense attorney Tony Serra is a fixture in San Francisco's legal landscape. But he's about to take a break from the law, at least this side of it, as he heads to prison for failing to pay income taxes. ABC7's Heather Ishimaru sat down with Serra for a talk about money, prison, and his unorthodox career.

Tony Serra then, and now. His ponytail has faded to gray, but his spirit has not.

ABC7's Heather Ishimaru: ""Why are you going to jail?"

Tony Serra, lawyer: "I'm going to jail because I haven't had a vacation in a long time. I'm going to jail because through my financial dysfunction I haven't paid taxes in quite a long time."

Seventy-one-year old Serra has been defending the rich and poor, the infamous, famous and anonymous for four decades. He is legendary for his success rate and flamboyant courtroom style. But the self-described hippie-radical lawyer has not profited from his work.

He's taken an informal vow of poverty. He gets his clothes from charities, he owns virtually nothing and has no credit cards. And last year, he was convicted of not paying income taxes for 20 years.

ABC7's Heather Ishimaru: "Do you have an accountant?"

Tony Serra, lawyer: "I never did. I have one now."

ABC7's Heather Ishimaru: "Do you have a comptroller, who..."

Tony Serra, lawyer: "I'm financially dysfunctional. That's what I've been proclaimed and I'm going to Siberia, 10 months in pseudo-Siberia, jail, to cure my dysfunction. I will come back functional."

More than a pithy interview response, financial dysfunction is his legal defense. His is his third tax conviction. He didn't pay in 1971 to protest the Vietnam War and served four months in prison. He forgot to pay in 1979 and got probation. This time he'll do ten months at Lompoc.

ABC7's Heather Ishimaru: "Do you regret not paying taxes this time?"

Tony Serra, lawyer: "Of course not. I would regret it if I was a normative person."

San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi was a Berkeley student activist when he saw Serra free a wrongly convicted man from death row. Adachi thinks Serra should not have to do prison time because, he says, Serra has made up at least as much money as he owes the government with all the cases he's done for free.

Jeff Adachi, public defender: "He's foregone millions in fees that the government would have to fork over, and so in essence he's saved the government money and that is the equity of the situation. Unfortunately it's not a legal defense."

Serra says he's looking forward to prison.

Tony Serra, lawyer: "I got born without desire for material things and I got born without fear. I don't have fear."

The U.S. attorney declined comment on his case. He begins his sentence March 31.

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