Public Defenders Meet Over Stresses to System

Officials with the state’s stressed public defender system are set to meet today for the first time since the end of the General Assembly legislative session. They’ll meet to discuss how to factor-in even deeper cuts to the criminal justice system. Already, Georgia’s public defenders are facing lagging support from state lawmakers and mounting funding problems. Last month, the system was hit with a lawsuit that aims to end prosecutions in hundreds of northeast Georgia cases-until lawyers are made available for defendants.

Lawsuit Seeks to Halt Hundreds of Cases

A lawsuit filed against state officials calls for prosecutions in a number of northeast Georgia cases to be halted. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Elbert County maintains that hundreds of defendants unable to afford their own lawyers are not being provided representation. The Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights is pursuing the case on behalf of five Elbert County defendants. The lawsuit highlights funding problems plaguing Georgia's public defender system.

(Associated Press)

Changes to Public Defenders Council Approved by Senate

Comparing the spending at the public defenders standards council to drunken sailors on shore leave, State Senator Preston Smith of Rome has pushed a bill through his chamber eliminating the group.

The bill makes the council an advisory group. Currently the council has the power to overrule the agencies director. Sen. Smith says that’s led the council to double it’s spending the past eight years defending indigent criminals.

"Every single state agency has agreed to reduce their budget, and tighten their belt, and this agency says not only will we not tighten our belt, we want a thirty three percent increase in our funding in FY 2010."

Opponents say this bill is political, and that Smith and others are angry the state spent over two million dollars defending convicted quadruple murderer Brian Nichols. They say if passed, this bill would reduce the quality of defense provided to the poor.

Public defender's office closing delayed

The state’s public defender’s council will delay the closing of a metro Atlanta office by one month--the end of July instead of end of June. Georgia’s Public Defender Standards Council voted to hire back some of the lawyers it had planned to cut. Also approved was the placement of seven attorneys set to be laid-off into other Fulton County offices. The office has been slated for closing to help address a cut in state funding for this year.

Public defenders council set to lose jobs

Georgia’s public defender council will lay-off 16 attorneys and five staff members--it’s all in the effort to help deal with budget cuts. Employees of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council were told Friday the jobs would be cut June 30th. Those losing their jobs are from the Metro Conflict Office, which helps with multi-defendant cases. A nine-million dollar budget for that division only got 5.4 million from the state this year. Nearly 19-hundred defendants could be affected with no legal representation.

High court sides with public defenders

In a high-profile death penalty case, the state Supreme Court ruled today the state public defender's office does not have to publish the amount of money its spent representing dozens of death penalty defendants. The ruling overturns a lower-court order to release the records. Those records include the case of accused courthouse shooter Brian Nichols. Nichols’ public defenders blame his nearly 2-million dollar defense tab for draining resources for other Georgia death penalty cases.

Lawyers, lawmakers disagree on funding death-penalty defense

When the director of the state agency that defends poor people in death-penalty cases stepped down last week, he said budget cuts were compromising lawyers' ability to help their clients.

The budget "is grossly inadequate to allow us to satisfy our statutory and constitutional mandates," Chris Adams wrote in a letter to the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that doesn't necessarily make it fact," said Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) in response. "I understand when people have tough jobs to do and have to find creative ways to do their jobs that pressure gets to them, and apparently the pressure got to him."

Seabaugh is chairing a committee that is rethinking Georgia's system of defending poor people accused of crimes. Members held their first hearing last week. They voiced concerns that Georgia is spending too much money on public defense. Although he will not name names, Seabaugh says some individuals are trying to make defending people in capitol cases look extremely expensive because they oppose the death penalty.

Georgia Capital Defenders received $4.3 million this year, which is less than half the money the agency had requested. A big chunk of the funds are being spent on the defense of Brian Nichols, who is accused of a killing spree at the Fulton County Courthouse.

Even without the record-breaking costs of the Nichols case, however, officials say there would still be a money crunch. State defenders are representing 79 other people in death-penalty cases too.

"We intend to do everything we can to do the job we've been asked to do in term of capital defense representation with the money we have," says Wilson DuBose, who chairs the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council. "We do intend to ask for more money in the future."

But state law restricts the amount of money the agency can request. DuBose says it will ask for an increase of $190,000. He hopes to increase communication with lawmakers so that they will have a better understanding of the work public defenders do. DuBose believes they will listen.

"If we can provide information to substantiate our needs, I believe they will respond," he says.