FL: orderly transition

Odd news out of Sarasota: newly-elected public defender takes office, no employees summarily axed, no police throw a party for the p.d. or search the p.d. premises. From WWSB:

Larry Eger sworn in as Public Defender

For the first time in more than three decades, someone other than Elliot Metcalfe holds the position of 12th Judicial Circuit Public Defender. Republican Larry Eger took his oath of office Friday in Manatee County...

He's taking over for Elliot Metcalf, who's held the position for 32 years. "We were all kind of lulled into this belief that he would be a permanent fixture, so I can't say it was ever my ambition that someday I am going to replace this man," says Eger...

There's just one thing...

FL: cops and p.d. sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g

Lest we forget Matt Shirk, another Floridian just elected p.d., John Wesley Hall Jr. at Law of Criminal Defense reminds us:

Jax Public Defender has "induction party" thrown by FOP

When the elected Public Defender getting sworn in has a party thrown for him by the Fraternal Order of Police, something is seriously wrong with the Public Defender's Office...

FL: "gimme that meat ax!"

Damage assessment from the Pensacola News Journal:

Public defender cleans house

Layoffs began this morning at the Public Defender’s Office in Pensacola. Thirteen employees, including two attorneys, were laid off by noon...

Assistant Public Defender John Nugent was set to pick a jury... on Monday morning, but the trial was delayed because he was unsure whether he’d have a job today. His instinct was right. “It’s a good thing I asked for a continuance or my poor boy would be sitting up there right now with a jury and no attorney,” Nugent said.

“All you were doing was trying to protect your clients,” (fired p.d. investigator Clint) Merritt said. “And I got the ax,” Nugent said...

Update from the News Journal:

Public defender hires 12, fires 14 employees

Public Defender James Owens fired at least 14 of his 125 employees and hired 12 attorneys on Tuesday, the day he was sworn into office...

FL: Shirk disease spreads to Lower Alabama

More tomfoolery from Florida, land of elected chief public defenders, from the P'cola News Journal:

Owens shaking up office - Incoming public defender sniffing out staff threats

Public Defender-elect James Owens says "credible threats" have been made to his safety, and he will have police dogs search the public defender's Pensacola office when he takes office Tuesday. Owens, who will replace 36-year Public Defender Jack Behr, said Saturday the threats come from employees in anticipation of upcoming layoffs in his office.

He refused to be specific about which employees made the threats, the number of threats or the nature of the threats. But he said he expects law officers to search for weapons and dogs to search for gunpowder...

Owens himself will lead the search for the duplicate key to the p.d. office icebox from which a quart of frozen strawberries was stolen.

At 4:59 p.m. Friday, the more than 100 employees in the Pensacola office received an e-mail with the subject line "IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM MR. OWENS..." The e-mail... instructed the Pensacola employees to remove their personal belongings by 5 p.m. Monday. It further said security key cards that allow employees entry to the office will be deactivated as of 5 p.m. Monday. The employees were instructed not to report to work earlier than 8 a.m. and were told that they will have to enter the courthouse through metal detectors like the general public...

Via Progressive Pensacola, who seems to underplay how bizarre and unprofessional this shake-up is.

Update 01/07/09, from the PNJ: Bizarre beginning

FL: life after Shirk

From JaxDailyRecord.com:

The next phase for White

After 34 years in one office, it’s not an easy question to answer. Public Defender Bill White has had the “What are you going to do next?” question following him around since Matt Shirk was elected as the next Public Defender for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in November...

“I’ve got an eye toward nonprofit right now,” said White. “There may be an opportunity to work for a nonprofit in an employee capacity.” He has been involved with Take Stock in Children and Communities in Schools of Jacksonville as part of his life outside the courtroom...

FL: perils of politicians as public defenders

Out of Jax, Fla, political follies and fallout at the courthouse, and fun lawyer quotes too, courtesy of Channel 12 and Channel 4:

Public Defenders Featured In Oscar-Winning Documentary Fired

"I believe Mr. Shirk and his cronies, if they work to their maximum potential and use all of their talents, may achieve mediocrity," McGuiness told First Coast News.

New Public Defender Fires 10 Lawyers

"Well, Mr. Shirk had not yet reached pre-K when many of these attorneys were trying cases already. I think he is uneasy around those with skill and experience," said McGuiness.

The documentary is "Murder On A Sunday Morning." The lawyer quoted is Patrick McGuinness. The newly-elected lawyer is Matt Shirk (suitable last name, that).

Update from the Florida Times-Union: Public defender-elect fires 10 seasoned attorneys

FL: Scop goes to juvy

Scoplaw may feel like he's being sent down to the minors, but really, I think it's going to be a good move:

(T)his really should be an egoless job, or, more properly, your ego should be made to serve good ends. You fight for your clients on so many different levels, trying to redeem something for them; even if the legal case is hopeless, the people who are accused never are...

"What are my options under juvenile law?"

I feel bad for the kid, but still, it's been too long since I've linked to a public pretender post:

Right now my stepson is on home detention and awaiting arraignment on the 18th at which time we will have to settle for a public defender as we cannot afford a lawyer...

Free legal advice from strange lawyers who don't know you or your case - since 1995, more trusted than asking your own p.d.

FL: pinchy in P'cola

The Florida p.d. crisis has spread to Lower Alabama, from the Pensacola News-Journal:

Public defenders feeling the pinch

The Public Defender’s Office in Pensacola may begin turning away hundreds of poor clients who qualify for its services saying the office is understaffed, underfunded and overwhelmed with cases.

“We were already under-funded and under-budgeted before,” Public Defender Jack Behr said... In the past two years, Behr said his office lost $895,000 from its budget and was forced to leave six positions unfilled...

FL: "this can get much bigger, very quickly"

Some blogs are tracking Miami's gathering caseload clouds...

From the Miami Herald:

Attorneys for Dade's poor vow to spurn most felony cases - Underfunded and overwhelmed with cases, the Miami-Dade Public Defender's office plans to refuse certain cases

... while I'm just hoping that our colleague Scoplaw can ride out the storm.

FL: mensch, p.d., "one good hippie"

From SFLTV:

Help Me Howard is One Good Hippie

Howard Finkelstein, better known to most as the Howard in ‘Help Me Howard’, WSVN’s hugely popular newscast segment, is getting some well deserved praise. The South Florida Times has a very nice story about him and his many efforts to assure that everyone has access to a public defender, but especially the poor and homeless who can’t afford high-powered lawyers...

And in the ABA Journal:

Finkelstein stayed at the public defender’s office and was elected the agency’s chief in 2005. In that role, one of the first things he did was remove a daiquiri machine from the office. He also facilitated Alcoholics Anony­mous meetings at the facility and weekly yoga classes. “Our profession churns out addicts like no other profession,” Finkelstein says. “If I can give them things that will support them, I do...”

Oh, and he saves lives too.

FL: when it comes to caseload, "'manageable' is, apparently, a relative term"

"Why Would Anyone Want to Be a Public Defender? Perhaps it's for the low pay, long hours and questionable clients..." From Orlando Weekly:

The Defense Never Rests

Welcome to the public defender’s office of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, serving Orange and Osceola County. Please sign in and be seated...

Upstairs, in the offices on the fifth floor, there is no L.A. Law breeziness, no cocktail lunches... Over in one corner, a public defender leans uncomfortably over a dusty brown box of paper files, settling into her work day in a common area outside her office. It’s quiet – most of the attorneys are in court – and there are no frills.

But it isn’t dreary. The boss, Bob Wesley, helps see to that. Enter into evidence the fact that he keeps notes in a Hannah Montana spiral notebook...

MySpace narc gets bit in butt

From a public defender:

Three degrees of YOU’RE A PREDATOR!

If you don’t have a MySpace or Facebook account, you’re nobody. Especially teens. Everyone has them and then some. So when middle school resource officer John Nohejl in Florida decided to set up a MySpace account so he could communicate with students in ways they do (with the blessing of the school), it seemed like a brilliant idea...

From I Speak of Dreams:

Is Officer Nohejl this year's Julie Amaro?

He set up a MySpace account - most of his MS "friends" are students in the Pasco County School District. One of his 170+ friends had a link to a porn site. Now Officer Nohejl is now under investigation by the Florida attorney general’s cyber crimes unit... (this one is rich with links)

Good luck with that, officer. Meanwhile, we have to keeping warning the youths: It's not just the pr0n that'll get you online, it's the cops!

FL: homenaje al matador

Fine eulogy for Louis O. Frost, one of the old bullfighters of public defense, from the Fernandina Beach News Leader:

Ministering society's castaways

The man we called Lou, or sometimes LOF, died last week at age 76 after a long fight with stomach cancer. When I went to work for him as an investigator - Lou was talking about retiring. It took him almost 20 more years to make up his mind. Lou hung around long enough to see kids he hired right out of law school turn gray-haired. That's how much he loved his vocation of serving the indigent accused...

(I)ndigent defense work isn't a job, it's a ministry. Our former boss ministered to society's castaways for nearly 40 years. The Good Book says, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be filled." That said, I'm sure Lou got head of the line privileges and more barbecue and ice tea than he could hold when he went off to the great Bar reception in the heavens last week...

FL: " your quintessential moral, ethical, caring person"

From Jacksonville.com:

36 years as a public defender - He held that post in Duval, Clay and Nassau counties

Louis O'Melville Frost, who served as the public defender for Duval, Nassau and Clay counties for 36 years and was considered the dean of Florida public defenders, died in his sleep Tuesday night... He was 76 and had been battling stomach cancer for four years... Mr. Frost was appointed public defender in 1968 and was re-elected nine times without opposition, serving until his retirement in January 2005.

Lawyers he hired, trained or employed rose to the heights of Florida's legal landscape and include a state attorney, more than 20 former or current judges and a retired Florida Supreme Court justice. "He was an institution, dedicated to the concept of defense of the poor," said Public Defender Bill White, his longtime chief assistant who succeeded him in 2005. "There are hundreds of lawyers in this town who owe their careers to Lou Frost, including me..."

FL: "it may have been a mistake to put him in juvenile"

By now you've heard of this:

All-white jury clears 8 in boot-camp death of boy

Acquittal Fits the Pattern in Boot Camp Deaths

I can't find the words...

In other Florida news, this, also from the South Florida Sun - Sentinel:

Public defender intern in Broward had been arrested for sex with teen

A Coral Springs man whose stepdaughter is in Broward juvenile court said he "almost had a heart attack" when he learned her assistant public defender once was arrested for having sex with a minor. "We were shocked," said Steve Potgieter, 38. "We were like, this is the twilight zone; this cannot be."

It turns out Bryan Docobo, 26, is an intern newly hired by the Broward Public Defender's Office... In May 2005, Docobo, then 23, had consensual sex with a 15-year-old Cooper City girl he met on the Internet. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and was sentenced to one year's probation...

FL: improving defense services to children

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Professor to boost juvenile justice - Using a $779,000 grant, he will train some area lawyers to better serve kids accused of crimes

Kids pleading guilty without talking to a lawyer. Teenagers waiving their rights without understanding the consequences. Little trial preparation by attorneys.

These findings from a 2006 study of Florida's juvenile-justice system make Gerard F. Glynn cringe. That's why Glynn, an associate professor at Barry University School of Law in Orlando, is leading the charge for a new center to focus on improving legal representation for children in the juvenile-justice system...

The process is the punishment

Every new public defender should have this much insight; from Scoplaw:

Loss of Liberty

I hear ‘loss of liberty’ used in the courthouse. I’ve used it myself. But I often wonder if someone sitting in the jury box really knows what that means, what the “loss of liberty” truly costs a person... I often wonder if they know what the accused may have endured, just to get to this point. To take a step back, here’s a quick overview of the “cost” of a criminal accusation (just the accusation, not a conviction)...

FL: turning over in Fort Myers

From the News-Press:

Attorney turnover taking its toll - State attorney, public defender fight to retain staff

Look into any Lee County Justice Center criminal courthouse and you’re sure to find as many younger, eager attorneys as older, experienced counsel.

Many of those young attorneys are prosecutors and public defenders. But lingering law school loans, the lure of private-sector salaries and desire to try a new trade are problems State Attorney Steve Russell and Public Defender Robert Jacobs deal with yearly. Turnover is a constant challenge for each office, and both elected leaders have tried increasing salaries, guaranteeing lots of courtroom experience and promoting in-office teamwork as a way to attract new talent.

According to Judicial Administration Commission numbers from 2005-2006, the most recent available, Russell’s office had a 25 percent turnover rate, fourth highest among Florida State Attorney Offices for that period. The turnover rate for Jacobs’ office was 26.5 percent, ninth highest among the 20 public defenders. “The people out of law school have these huge loans,” Jacobs said. “They want to make a commitment, but they can’t. They want to make as much as they can and you can’t blame them...”

FL: p.d. in trouble

From the Pensacola News Journal:

Assistant public defender busted a second time

An Escambia County assistant public defender has been arrested a second time in less than a month on drug charges. Ronald Davis, 56, was arrested Sunday at 12:44 a.m. at a Whataburger... He faces charges of driving under the influence, possession of opium or a derivative, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia said... On April 27, Davis was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, both felonies...

Read the comments for some perspective on this colleague's troubles.

Update (via PD Stuff): Assistant public defender fired