Public Defenders

Irked at His Lawyer in $100 Ticket Case, Man Punches Her in Face, Gets 2-Year Prison Term

Corrected: Apparently irritated at a deputy public defender representing him on a marijuana citation that could, at most, have resulted in a $100 fine, a California man punched her in the face last year at the West Justice Center in Westminster, knocking her head against the wall and breaking her…

Mar 26, 2011 12:51 AM CDT

We Need Judges to Work Harder, So We Should Pay Them More Money, Lawmaker Says

We need judges to work harder to bring a heavy backlog of undecided cases under control. So we should pay those who step up to the plate and get the job done more money, an influential Florida lawmaker is suggesting. Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, chairs the budget committee and…

Mar 23, 2011 8:49 PM CDT

Ordered to Wear ‘Spit Guard’ at Trial After Targeting Attorney, Defendant Looks Like Hannibal Lecter

A defendant in a Florida rape trial is going to sit in front of the jury looking more than a bit like Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs after a judge ordered him to wear a “spit guard” throughout the proceeding that covers his nose and the lower…

Mar 22, 2011 6:18 PM CDT

Did Renowned Journalism Prof Known for Innocence Work Give Evidence Only to the Defense?

Renowned for his work in helping those wrongfully convicted prove their innocence, a high-profile Northwestern University journalism professor is apparently benched from teaching his popular investigative reporting course this spring. David Protess was initially defended by Northwestern when prosecutors in a Cook County, Ill., case contended that they were entitled…

Mar 18, 2011 11:09 PM CDT

Story of New Law Grad’s Work on Tim McVeigh’s Defense Team Is Headed to Hollywood

As 1996 neared an end, Chad Wold’s life course seemed set. The recent law school graduate was getting settled in Montana, where he was about to get married and study for the bar exam. But then, in a stunning development that illustrates the power of networking, came a phone call…

Mar 17, 2011 7:52 PM CDT

Lawyers Oppose Mass. Gov’s Budget Proposal to Replace Contract Lawyers with Full-Time PDs

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick suggested in his 2012 budget proposal that the state eliminate 3,000 contract attorney positions from its indigent legal defense program in an effort to save $48 million. The contract attorneys in the Committee for Public Counsel Services would be replaced with 1,000 public defenders, according to…

Mar 14, 2011 5:44 PM CDT

Public Defender’s Program Takes Troubled Teens on Service Trips to Exotic Locales

Daniel Ybarra, San Diego deputy public defender, has visited Alaska, Hawaii and New Zealand, often with kids who’ve been through the county’s Juvenile Delinquency Drug Court. Ybarra started Stony Knoll Youth Services 10 years ago, according to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, with a plan to take local…

Mar 14, 2011 3:57 PM CDT

Detective Posing as Inmate’s Attorney Interfered with Right to Counsel, Required Conviction Reversal

When John Edward Dawson told his lawyer in a state court burglary and drug case that he was also being represented by a federal defender, she thought he was delusional and requested a psychiatric evaluation. But it was, in fact, true that someone pretending to be a federal defender had…

Mar 8, 2011 11:20 PM CST

Investigator Claims Jealousy Motivated Supervising PD to Sexually Harass Him

A former investigator for the federal public defender in Texas claims a supervising lawyer couldn’t let their relationship go after he broke off their romance—and his complaints about her continued sexual harassment cost him his job. The investigator, Cesar Ehrenzweig, claims the lawyer, Marissa Perez-Garcia, became furious after he ended…

Mar 7, 2011 3:00 PM CST

In Fla., Proposed Court Budget Cuts Raise Concerns of Big Slowdowns, Overwhelming Workloads

Court officials in South Florida fear that proposed budget cuts could overburden a system already reeling from a loss in income. The governor’s budget proposal calls for a $40 million cut in the budget for court administration, resulting in possibly 600 layoffs, including positions for staff attorneys and judicial assistants,…

Feb 28, 2011 3:23 PM CST

Pa. Judge Taken Off All Criminal Cases After Public Defender Wins Temp Protective Order Against Him

An assistant public defender has been granted a temporary protective order against a Pennsylvania judge with whom she works at the York County Judicial Center. Janan Tallo, 30, alleged in a protection from abuse petition (PDF) that York County Judge Thomas Kelley VI, who is 47, broke her right elbow…

Feb 15, 2011 5:39 PM CST

Criminal Courts Should Provide a Brady Checklist, ABA Says

State and federal judges should provide both prosecutors and defense counsel with a written checklist of the disclosure obligations of prosecutors under 1963’s Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and its progeny, the ABA’s policymaking House of Delegates said Monday. Brady requires the production of exculpatory evidence to defense…

Feb 14, 2011 2:40 PM CST

Convicted of Official Misconduct, Former PD Is Now Suspended for 1 Year Over Sex with Client

A former assistant public defender who was criminally convicted of official misconduct in 2009 for having sex with a then-client was suspended from practice yesterday for one year by attorney disciplinary authorities. Matthew Swedick “engaged in illegal conduct that adversely reflected on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer,…

Feb 4, 2011 10:06 PM CST

ABA Brief Supports Right to Counsel for Civil Contempt Defendants Facing Possible Jail Time

The ABA argues in a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief that poor people should have the right to a lawyer in civil contempt proceedings carrying a threat of jail time. The petitioner in the case, Michael Turner, served a year in prison for failing to pay child support. The South…

Jan 12, 2011 3:08 PM CST

Evidence of Premeditation Could Harm Insanity Case for Alleged Ariz. Shooter

An insanity defense could face some difficult hurdles in the guilt phase of a federal trial for Tucson, Ariz., shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner. Loughner had apparently planned the killing, prosecution documents allege, and experts say that could pose problems under the federal insanity standard, report the Associated Press and…

Jan 11, 2011 3:17 PM CST