Public Defenders

Court-appointed lawyer isn’t at murder defendant’s ‘beck and call,’ judge says

In the 22 months since he’s been charged with first-degree murder, Jerry Crosby says he has been able to spend only 32 hours talking with his court-appointed defense attorney. “He never comes to see me,” said Crosby of attorney Kenneth Moynihan during a Monday court hearing in Syracuse, N.Y. “I’m…

Aug 18, 2014 6:39 PM CDT

Ethics charges reveal new details in case of judge who punched public defender

A Florida judge who struck an assistant public defender in a hallway outside his Viera courtroom is now facing a legal ethics case. Assistant public defender Andrew Weinstock was representing a client before Brevard County Judge John Murphy when they got into the argument that led to the physical altercation.…

Aug 14, 2014 6:54 PM CDT

SCOTUS sends inmate’s claim he didn’t authorize cert petition to ethics board

The U.S. Supreme Court has forwarded to Pennsylvania lawyer ethics regulators a death-row inmate’s claim that he never authorized anyone to file a cert petition on his behalf. The Supreme Court referred the claim to the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board for “any investigation or action it finds appropriate,” report the Legal…

Aug 12, 2014 2:24 PM CDT

Prosecutor is accused of adding admission of guilt to transcript; he said it was a joke

A California prosecutor is facing an ethics complaint that alleges he added an admission of guilt to a transcript provided to the suspect’s public defender. Deputy District Attorney Robert Murray of Kern County has said he was joking when he sent the altered transcript to a deputy public defender, and…

Aug 12, 2014 12:18 PM CDT

Study is evidence of ‘crisis in public defense systems,’ ABA president says

An ABA study of Missouri public defenders serves as a blueprint for other jurisdictions developing evidence of “crushing workloads,” according to ABA President James R. Silkenat. The study (PDF) found Missouri public defenders have insufficient time to spend on all aspects of their cases, according to an ABA press release.…

Jul 31, 2014 1:36 PM CDT

Execution takes nearly two hours; PD filed emergency motion after first hour

The execution of an Arizona inmate took nearly two hours on Wednesday, continuing even after his lawyers filed an emergency request to halt the procedure. Witnesses said convicted double murderer Joseph Rudolph Wood snorted and gasped for breath during the lengthy execution. The state corrections department disputed that characterization, saying…

Jul 24, 2014 12:16 PM CDT

Defense lawyers say feds’ refusal to screen inmate-attorney email frustrates right to counsel

Because of budgetary and time constraints, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have discontinued a once-common practice of having firewall lawyers screen inmate email to weed out communications between defendants and their lawyers before prosecutors could view them. That has led to an ongoing dispute between defense lawyers and the U.S. Attorney’s…

Jul 22, 2014 9:20 PM CDT

Judge nixes $50 contempt fine for saggy pants worn by attendee at court hearing

An earlier argument by a chief Pennsylvania public defender that an 18-year-old’s saggy pants revealed gym shorts rather than underwear apparently didn’t carry the day during a contempt appeal Thursday. But Adam Dennis nonetheless won a dismissal of the state district court case, as well as $50 fine, represented for…

Jul 17, 2014 10:00 PM CDT

Firing public defender over Facebook comments violated 1st Amendment, his lawyer says

Firing and publicly humiliating a longtime assistant Florida public defender over comments he made on Facebook violated his First Amendment rights, says a lawyer for now-former Broward County employee Gary Sheres. In a blistering Wedneday statement published by the Sun Sentinel, attorney Jason Blank contends that Broward County Public Defender…

Jul 17, 2014 4:30 PM CDT

Man whose family posted $450K cash bond in homicide case wants public defender

A Montana man accused of shooting a woman to death while he was drunk and she was speaking to a 911 dispatcher from his home in Billings has been released on $450,000 cash bond posted by his family, Now Richard Douglas Reinert, 28, is arguing that he should be granted…

Jul 11, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Civil rights groups sue feds to get lawyers for juveniles in deportation hearings

Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Seattle against Attorney General Eric Holder and other U.S. officials. They contend it is “fundamentally unfair” to require children facing deportation hearings to proceed without legal representation and are seeking a court order requiring the Department of Justice to…

Jul 9, 2014 4:40 PM CDT

Make 200-mile trek to courthouse or plead guilty? Some defendants choose the latter

Criminal defendants in the nation’s geographically largest county are increasingly pleading guilty because they don’t want to make trips to a courthouse that is located up 200-plus miles away, according to local lawyers. The lengthy trips in San Bernardino County, California, are a fact of life because of court closures…

Jul 9, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Assistant PD punched by judge resigns in protest after jurist returns to bench

An assistant public defender who said he was punched by a Florida judge in a Brevard County courtroom hallway has resigned in protest following the jurist’s return to the bench less than a month after the incident. Andrew Weinstock said in a Monday letter that he was resigning, effective immediately,…

Jul 8, 2014 9:20 PM CDT

Two public defenders fired over ‘hate speech’ in Facebook comments

Apparently angry about the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens that has been in the news recently, two assistant public defenders in Broward County, Florida, seeming used inflammatory language about Palestinians in Facebook comments about the killings that their boss characterized as hate speech. Although Bruce Raticoff told the…

Jul 8, 2014 4:40 PM CDT

Poor NYC immigrants facing possible deportation will get free public defenders

New York City lawmakers have approved funding to provide free public defenders to indigent immigrants facing possible deportation. The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project will be the first program to pay the complete costs for public defenders in immigration proceedings, the New York Times and the Associated Press report.…

Jul 1, 2014 11:15 AM CDT