Jonathan T. Laba
Assistant Public Defender
Jonathan Laba has been an attorney with the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office since 1996 and has handled all types of cases, including capital cases. During the past 12 years, he has supervised a variety of different units in the Public Defender’s Office, including felony and misdemeanor trial teams, mental health, post-conviction, and writs and appeals. Since 2020, Mr. Laba has supervised the office’s youth defense team. Mr. Laba earned a BA from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Since 2006, Mr. Laba has co-authored the chapter on juvenile delinquency in CEB’s “California Criminal Law: Procedure and Practice.” He co-chairs the Juvenile Committee for the California Public Defenders Association; serves as a board member and as co-chair of the Legislative Committee for the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center; and is appointed to serve on the Judicial Council’s Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee. Mr. Laba is an adjunct faculty member at Berkeley Law, where he has taught youth justice and criminal legal ethics courses.
