Public Defenders

See the video: PD is handcuffed in court hall for refusing to step aside for police photo of client

When a longtime public defender heard Tuesday afternoon that a misdemeanor client was being questioned by plainclothes police in a hallway outside a San Francisco Hall of Justice courtroom, she headed for the hallway herself. There, as Jami Tillotson stood at the man’s side and calmly explained to police she…

Jan 29, 2015 10:40 AM CST

Public defender is arrested, accused of lying to court staff about his client

A Pennsylvania assistant public defender was arrested Monday night and charged with providing false information to a judge’s staff member about whether his client had appeared for trial in a child sex-assault case. The client, 44-year-old Jeffrey Derosky, was a no-show for the Jan. 12 trial. He was found dead…

Jan 27, 2015 3:45 PM CST

Utah inmate forfeited right to counsel after threatening several lawyers, state’s top court says

A Utah inmate has forfeited his right to appellate counsel because of repeated and extreme “dilatory, disruptive, and threatening conduct” toward his lawyers, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled. The inmate, Curtis Allgier, expressed disapproval of a succession of lawyers appointed to represent him in the 2007 murder of a…

Jan 26, 2015 8:55 AM CST

Ohio attorney pleads guilty to UPL and grand larceny after practicing in New York for over 10 years

For more than a decade, Dennis McGrath practiced in upstate New York, providing indigent defense services under a taxpayer-funded assigned counsel program in Erie County. There was just one problem: Although McGrath was admitted in Ohio, according to his attorney, he wasn’t licensed in New York. On Tuesday, the 57-year-old…

Dec 18, 2014 12:10 PM CST

Jailhouse attack by handcuffed client sends public defender to hospital

A Chicago public defender was taken to a hospital Wednesday after being attacked from behind by a handcuffed client at the Cook County jail and rendered unconscious. Officials said attorney Richard Kruss, 49, was cut on the back of his neck or head but did not appear to have suffered…

Dec 11, 2014 9:30 AM CST

Justice is dispensed quickly in misdemeanor courts; is there an ‘assembly-line mentality’?

Attorney General Eric Holder has complained that misdemeanor courts have almost an “assembly-line mentality” in which some defendants are denied lawyers and are “unnecessarily imprisoned.” The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) notes Holder’s statement in a story examining misdemeanor courts, which are flooded with cases as a result of tough-on-crime…

Dec 1, 2014 8:20 AM CST

Senior prosecutor is fired one day after courtroom outburst

A senior prosecutor in Jefferson County, Kentucky, was fired Thursday following a Wednesday courtroom outburst during a contentious hearing. The Louisville Courier-Journal provided a copy of the courtroom video of the incident. In it, prosecutor Robert Fleck called a public defender “wet behind the ears” and said, “For the record…

Oct 30, 2014 3:00 PM CDT

New York will beef up indigent defense in five counties in ‘groundbreaking’ lawsuit settlement

Indigent defense in five New York counties will be beefed up and handled by the state’s Office of Indigent Legal Services in a lawsuit settlement heralded as a possible blueprint for a statewide approach. The state will help pay for more defense lawyers and other support staffers in the five…

Oct 22, 2014 11:34 AM CDT

Once on death row for murder committed when he was 1,000 miles away, Texas man is free after plea

Construction laborer Manuel Velez was on the job in Tennessee, some 1,000 miles from his home in Brownsville, Texas, when his girlfriend’s 1-year-old son sustained fatal head injuries, according to medical evidence provided by an expert witness for the prosecution. But Velez was nonetheless convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced…

Oct 8, 2014 2:10 PM CDT

Judge threatens to remove capital defense lawyer, cites missed deadlines and overzealous motions

A federal judge in Boston told a capital defense lawyer on Tuesday that she had ruined her credibility and that he might sanction her or remove her from the case. Senior U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf said lawyer Danalynn Recer had missed deadlines and violated an order to refrain from…

Sep 25, 2014 5:45 AM CDT

Lawyer fights judge’s order calling her ineffective and removing her from murder case defense

Calling a Georgia lawyer ineffective, a trial court has removed her from a murder case and brought in the public defender’s office this week to represent her client. Attorney Veronica Brinson is fighting the order by Bibb County Judge Howard Simms, contending that her client, Frank Reeves, 74, has the…

Sep 18, 2014 2:35 PM CDT

Emma Greenwood helps the defense bar integrate tech—and levels the criminal justice playing field

Emma Greenwood’s background—working for tech companies and startups—came in handy when she started her own law practice in 2007. The New York City lawyer found herself helping attorneys who weren’t comfortable with technology familiarize themselves with the many different types of electronically stored information available in a given case. Her…

Sep 18, 2014 8:30 AM CDT

Judge who ordered deputy to shock ‘rude’ pro se defendant has been taken off bench

Updated: It appears that a call by the public defender for the state of Maryland to ban a senior circuit court judge from hearing cases may have been heeded by the state’s top court. On Friday, the Maryland Court of Appeals said there was “good cause” to remove retired Judge…

Sep 10, 2014 11:45 AM CDT

Pennsylvania chief justice: Federal Community Defender Office overburdens state courts

Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald Castille lashed out at the Federal Community Defender Office in an opinion on Wednesday that said the group “insinuates itself into the role of de facto statewide defender in capital cases.” In a single-justice opinion, Castille said the Philadelphia-based office had not responded to a claim…

Sep 5, 2014 7:31 AM CDT

In court after missing anger management courses, man attacks his public defender, authorities say

In court Tuesday because he failed to attend court-ordered anger-management classes after an assault conviction, a South Dakota man wound up facing new charges after he attacked an assistant public defender in a conference room, according to the local sheriff’s office. Kelly John Lange, 34, “tipped over the conference room…

Sep 3, 2014 4:25 PM CDT