KY: short-change DPA now, pay later

Seems to be a lot of legislative false economizing going on nationwide. From Kentucky.com:

Chief public defender takes case to judges - asks state to pay for private lawyers for defendants

The state's chief public defender is asking judges to order the state... to pay for private lawyers for some poor criminal defendants because his agency can no longer afford to represent them.

In a letter to judges released Wednesday (pdf file), public advocate Ernie Lewis warned that public defenders will begin refusing certain types of cases starting July 1 as a result of the $2.3 million budget cut approved this spring by the General Assembly. Lewis said the Department of Public Advocacy cannot afford to fill about 40 vacancies. With caseloads already at unethically high levels, Lewis said, public defenders cannot take on additional cases...

KY: top public defender calling it quits

From Kentucky.com:

Public advocate Lewis to retire

Public advocate Ernie Lewis plans to retire Sept. 1, leaving behind a department that he says “will be significantly under funded” because of recent budget cuts. The Department of Public Advocacy announced Lewis’ retirement on Wednesday. He has been with the department for 31 years, and served as a public advocate for 12 years...

Update: Jon Katz, In praise of Ernie Lewis

Miracle of forgiveness

Unflappable public defender Doug Cricker on TV:

He'd be willing to represent his attacker again, however, "I definitely think there's a conflict of interest there now."

More at Beliefnet.

KY: p.d. on attacker - "I don't feel any ill will toward him"

I know you saw the video of the in-court sucker punch on the public defender, but did you read this? From Kentucky.com:

Assaulted attorney says he holds no grudge - no charges filed against defendant who slugged him

(Doug) Crickmer returned to work Tuesday and went to the jail to make sure Hafer was being treated properly...

An inspiring display of the p.d. ethic, and more than a bit humbling.

KY: department of online advocacy

The Department of Public Advocacy, Kentucky's statewide public defender agency, is making imaginative use of the Web.

You can find DPA lawyers discussing their jobs on YouTube.

You can check out DPA podcasts.

You can even find DPA when you do a Facebook search for "Department of Public Advocacy." Pretty slick.

"I can't believe I've got a case before the Supreme Court and I'm not even 30 years old"

I know you've all seen this about David Barron, front-runner for 2008 Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year:

Public Defender Builds Injection Case

I just wanted to mention that this mentor of his...

"It's an uphill battle," said Ernie Lewis, head of the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. "We can't provide an O.J. defense."

...was one of my NCDC instructors, just like 2007's Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year, David Terrell.

KY: 6-year-old's case dismissed

Good news from Autism Vox:

Criminal Charges Against Nathan Darnell Dismissed

Just up on WCPO news (Kentucky):

Public Defender Amanda Mullins asked that the charge be dismissed because of Nathan’s age and autism. "A child can’t participate in their own defense at six years old because they’re unable to answer questions or give me their version of the story accurately," Mullins said. The judge agreed...

"That's a relief."

KY: "we're losing a brain trust"

From the News-Enterprise:

Justice Done - After 27 years of defending rights of poor, Holbert retires

To complete 27 years in any occupation is an accomplishment, but to do that time fighting for the indigent and people charged with crimes, is a career worth talking about.

Larry Holbert, veteran defender of the accused in Hardin County, completed his time as an attorney for the Department of Public Advocacy in motion hour Tuesday.

“There’s a satisfaction in getting justice done,” Holbert said. “And just like any other defense attorney, guilt or innocence plays no bearing on my job...”

KY: "you have got to make ends meet"

From the Louisville Courier-Journal:

Public defender peddles pizza to pay college loans

Pizza is a meal that might find its way to a lawyer's table during a late-night session of prep work before a trial. But for Barren County public defender Adam Greenway, it puts meals on the table.

"I never thought I would be 30 years old driving pizzas out after graduating from law school," said Greenway, whose second job is delivering pizza for Papa John's...

Here's one point of view: What a great guy...it is nice to see such a hard working person.

And here's another: Public sector attorney pay... Woefully pathetic or just what they deserve?

Mug

A friend of my wife forwarded this photo of some DPA schwag - with the caption, "Why Editors Are Important."

KY: profile in courage

From WYMT:

Judge Has Attorney Locked Up Behind Bars

(W)hen Andrea Poniecki's client, Charlie Wayne Smith, did not show up for court on Friday because he was ill Judge Johnson asked Poniecki, a Bell County Public Defender, if she wanted to take her client's place. She said "fine" and the judge detained her behind bars for ten minutes...

KY: tell me about it

Caseload increases take toll on defenders, justice

Scott West knows being a public defender is a burn-out job. But preventing burn out of the lawyers he supervises is complicated by the state's growing number of people accused of crimes who can't afford a private attorney...

"I believe in what I do. I think everyone should have good representation," said West, directing attorney for the Murray DPA office that covers Calloway, Marshall and Graves counties. "I can see how people can burn out, but I don't have the luxury of giving them a light enough case load to keep them from getting burned out."

Marking a p.d.'s fall

Christian County, Kentucky public defender Thomas R. Snider died this past June in a car accident while on his way back from visiting a client in the Caldwell County jail. He was 26, graduated from law school in 2003.

He's been honored by the proclamation of "Thomas R. Snider" day by the local court, and by the planting of a tree in his memory in the courthouse lawn.

I like that. In the event of my untimely demise, scatter half my ashes next to the Salmon River, and use the rest to mulch the tree you plant for me at the courthouse. That way I can keep an eye on the prosecutors in perpetuity.

Video: KY P.D.'s buried under caseload

Top story from WYMT in Kentucky: 97 seconds profiling some overstretched public defenders:

The Pike-Floyd County Public Defender's office has four potential death penalty cases coming up. That's in addition to three thousand other cases. There are only four lawyers to handle it all.

The poor p.d. interviewed already looks pretty tired. She said,

"I've been known to sleep in the breakroom to get it done, to prepare for a big trial coming up."

Yeah, public pretenders don't give a damn. Tell me another one.

A good p.d. gone too soon

Christian County public defender Thomas R. Snider died... Tuesday morning after being involved in a car accident last week. Snider, 26... was on his way back to Hopkinsville... after visiting a client at the Caldwell County Jail around 1:40 p.m. June 2 when the accident occurred.

"Tom was loved and respected by all of his colleges and all of his clients... He'll be sadly missed in the justice system."

Public Defender Investigator brought the news and has information on how one might send condolences.

P.D.'s don't need more $ - the D.A. said so!

The Kentucky brothers and sisters are pulling out all the stops. I admire the dedication, but really, when the going gets this tough, the tough get caller ID:

- "Allen Graf, a public defender in Bowling Green, said he's given up trying to talk to clients during the day and instead allows them to call him — collect — at his home in the evening."

- "Public defender Harolyn Howard said the caseload in Pikeville is so high she sometimes sleeps on a couch on her office when she works late at night preparing for a trial. She doesn't have time to get ready for trials during the day because she's either in court on other cases or meeting with clients, she said."

- "One recent morning, public defender Krsna Tibbs ran from courtroom to courtroom, representing about a half-dozen people in Jefferson District Court. With clients waiting, Tibbs had yet another case, a man charged with multiple domestic violence offenses, theft and traffic violations. But the judge wanted a trial within the hour. The client spoke only Spanish, and Tibbs couldn't find an interpreter."

Meanwhile in Baton Rouge, one brave prosecutor speaks out against the Sixth Amendment: Taxpayers shouldn't pay to defend poor people accused of crimes, he says. Out of touch with the mainstream? They report, you decide.

"Cranking up the caseload"

Meth is messing with the court system in western Kentucky, along with its attendant thefts and forged checks charges. Public defender caseloads are estimated to hit an average 500 new cases per attorney by the end of this year.

The article reports that the commonwealth attorney and the p.d. are vying for the title of "Most Overworked Public Servant."

Ernie Lewis, head of the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy admired by me (but not apparently by a disgruntled DPA insider) is quoted:

For Ernie Lewis, it means accepting a different, but equally harsh reality, the possibility that defendants under the counsel of his office may plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit.

Plea deals are a healthy part of the legal process, Lewis says, but "the caseload problem encourages plea negotiations." Some cases, he says, end up in a plea deal when a trial is justified. But the hours involved for both the public defender and the prosecutor may make a jury trial virtually impossible. That leads Lewis to his "greatest fear" as head of the public defender system, "people are ending up entering a guilty plea when they are in fact not guilty of what they're charged with."

Towering caseloads for both sides, he says, creates "an immense incentive to resolve the case with a guilty plea."

This is the home-brewed poison that corrodes everything it touches: the cops, the clients, their kids, and the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

"Sing me a song of my old Kentucky public defender home..."

Big thanks to Jeff Sherr and his Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy blawg for linking to me today. I've been a fan of DPA and the Ernie Lewis way ever since 1998 and NCDC (National Criminal Defense College - ask your boss to send you), when my partner was Elizabeth from the DPA LaGrange office.

Thanks also for the link to this spat, where the head PD (not from Kentucky) says that his office, not a judge, decides who is or is not represented, and the judge replies, "The public defender's office seems to do everything they can not to represent people. If they want to declare war on me, they've got it."

Uh-oh. Why any PD would get into this kind of pissing match is not immediately apparent.

Public Defender hero

Ernie Lewis is a PD's PD. He's built a statewide program in Kentucky that's a model for the rest of the country, he's an outstanding lawyer, manager, trainer, and miracle worker, and he does it all while being one of the most courtly and least self-impressed people who you're ever likely to meet in the law.
 

Lewis has been with the Department of Public Advocacy since he graduated from law school in 1977. This month he was re-appointed by the governor for a third term as Public Advocate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. In 1996, when he was first sworn in, Lewis said, "I ask you to judge me by the vision of the right to counsel." Eight years later, you can see for yourself how the vision's been met, at several DPA webpages.