The head of Georgia's Capital Defenders Office resigned today, citing budget woes that he says compromised his ability to defend the state's death row inmates. In a letter to the Georgia Public Defenders Standards Council, Chris Adams wrote that the current budget is grossly inadequate and not enough to satisfy its constitutional mandate. Adams says lawyers in his office represented eight clients each, with no help from secretaries or paralegals. The state has financed the Capitol Defender system for the past three years after the county based system was found unconstitutional.
