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Study: Mich. fails to defend poor suspects
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Thursday, June 19, 2008 10:18 AM EDT
CORUNNA - Although a statewide study claims Michigan violates indigent criminal defendant's Constitutional rights, local attorneys and judges claim that's not the case in Shiawassee County.
A year-long report studying 10 counties across Michigan - including Shiawassee - contends each county fails to provide competent legal representation to defendants requesting a court-appointed attorney.
“They said they got a representative sample across the state,” said Barbara BakerOmerod, an Owosso-based attorney appointed on cases in both Shiawassee County's 66th District Court and Shiawassee County Probate Court. “The problems they find with the court-appointed defender system are not problems in Shiawassee County.”
The study shows Michigan ranks 44th nationally on public defense spending, spending $7.35 per capita, 38 percent below the national average of $11.86.
Defense attorneys are appointed to cases which they are not qualified for, the study shows. The pay also is marginal for lawyers assigned by three judges in Shiawassee County - it increased $10 within the past year to $60 per hour.
The study also said Michigan is among a minority of states that make county governments rather than state government pay for public defenders at trial.
“It would be a better system if the state would adequately fund indigent defense, but with the economic outlook in Michigan, that's just not going to happen,” said 66th District Court Judge Ward Clarkson. “In the meantime the judges here do the best they can to balance the rights of the people and the spending of the taxpayers and try to treat everyone fairly.”
The legislature requested the study, which was performed by the National Legal Aid & Defender Association in conjunction with the State Bar of Michigan.
The report said counties most in need of indigent defense services usually can't afford to pay for them.
Many counties use low-bid, flat-fee contracts in which attorneys accept cases for a predetermined fee. This causes a conflict of interest between their duty to competently defend clients and a financial self-interest to invest less time on cases to maximize profits, the study reported.
“I agree that there are issues that need to be addressed with the lack of uniformity from county to county to pay a court appointed attorney,” said Shiawassee County Circuit Court Judge Gerald Lostracco. “The report is helpful in some ways, and I agree with what's presented as a reason for the study. That's where we need the help - Shiawassee County and a lot of counties are financially strapped.”
Lostracco suggested lawmakers use a percentage of money collected from case filing fees and put it toward court-appointed attorney fees. This would increase the pool of attorneys, he said.
“What is clear, however, is that there is no mechanism in place for taking into account the ‘workload' of the lawyers, all of whom maintain private practices in a variety of legal disciplines. Absent too, it appears, is any way of determining how many (if any) cases from other jurisdictions are assigned to the lawyers on the list,” the study said specifically of Shiawassee County.
“How would we possibly know who's got what kind of caseload? We have no way of knowing. The attorney's not here when we assign them,” said 66th District Court Judge Terrance Dignan. “I think that's a ridiculous supposition. If the attorney wants to decline, he can. I thought that was ill-conceived criticism. If someone's so busy, why would they want to work for $60 an hour if they're so busy at $200 (per hour)?”
David Carroll, author of the study and director of research for the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, said Massachusetts requires attorneys log the hours worked on each case in order to determine court-appointed case loads.
“I think this is one of the issues in Michigan, that the systems are so vulcanized and isolated that they can't see how the rest of the country has evolved on this front,” said Carroll, who is in Lansing today testifying before the House Judiciary Committee.
Lostracco said he spent more than $176,000 on court-appointed attorneys in 2007. The county recouped less than half of that through defendant repayment.
Circuit court has $180,000 budgeted for indigent defense in 2008.
The other nine counties studied were Alpena, Bay, Chippewa, Grand Traverse, Jackson, Marquette, Oakland, Ottawa and Wayne. The report found faults in each of the counties, ranging from undue interference from judges to high caseloads to not providing court-appointed attorneys a confidential space to meet with their clients.
Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state on behalf of poor defendants and accused it of not spending enough on public defenders.
The lawsuit is pending.
Michigan counties spend about $74 million a year on indigent defense. To rank near the middle nationally, they would have to spend about $46 million more annually at a time the state and local governments are strapped for cash.
Carroll said the extra money would be a “drop in the bucket” compared with the $2 billion a year Michigan spends on its prison system.
The three judges in Shiawassee County said inexperienced attorneys are not assigned to serious or extreme cases.
“Defendants need a competent attorney for the system to work,” Shiawassee County Prosecutor Randy Colbry said. “There's not really any standard in terms of what experience you need to have had before you start taking appointments as a criminal defense attorney.”
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- Contact Dominic Adams at 725-5136 extension 239 or by e-mail at dadamsarguspress@gmail.com.
Comment on this Story
Douglas Field wrote on Jul 10, 2008 8:21 AM:
It appears that the US Supreme Court way back in 1984 knew the injustice of our federal appeal retrial review process really only being available for affluent Americans to get benefit from.
The masses of poor and mostly uneducated prison inmates who are being forced to write their own federal appeal legal cases, are being denied new trials by the federal courts in mass all across this country everyday.
Some believe this injustice stems way back in our history to the Civil War era when the US Southern States were railroading blacks into prolonged prison sentences and knowing all along that the Federal Courts would never grant these poor black prison inmates new trials because they never could properly write their own federal appeal legal cases.
The real horror here is that this form of injustice is even in 2008 assisting in the prolonged false incarceration of over 100,000 innocent mostly uneducated American prison inmates nation-wide.
We all know the federal appeal retrial process was designed for all Americans as a fail safe device that every American should be entitled to utilize, but it is quite obvious that our government has allowed this appeal process to slip into a completely new facade in which it has become an exclusive opportunity for only rich Americans to be able to properly benefit from.
A MUST READ OF AMERICAN INJUSTICE:
Google or Yahoo;
MANNY GONZALES THE KID THAT EVERYONE FORGOT IN THE CA PRISON SYSTEM.
lawyersforpooramericans@yahoo.com
(424-247-2013) "
Douglas Field wrote on Jun 23, 2008 4:11 PM:
Americans Are Slowly Learning About How Easy It Is For Our Country To Have Tens Of Thousands Falsely Imprisoned Inmates Nationwide!
What kind of Judeau Christian values is our country demonstrating to the rest of the world when our national prisons are reported to contain 100,000 innocent and falsely imprisoned inmates who can not find even one American Political Leader or National Media source willing to take the high road in fighting for justice and equality within our federal appeal judicial process?
** GREAT SOCIETIES THAT DO NOT EVEN PROTECT THEIR INNOCENT BECOME THE GUILTY !
( LAWYERSFORPOORAMERICANS@YAHOO.COM)
phone: 424-247-2013
(WWW on Google Manny Gonzales the Kid That Everyone Forgot in the CA Prison System.) "
Jim wrote on Jun 20, 2008 11:02 PM:
Dee wrote on Jun 20, 2008 2:07 PM:
Dan wrote on Jun 20, 2008 12:53 PM:
It's good to know that nobody ever gets falsely accused. Thanks for straightening me out. "
jim wrote on Jun 19, 2008 3:03 PM:
Dan wrote on Jun 19, 2008 4:31 AM:
These Lawyers take the cases at $60 per hour because they don't have to put any effort into the cases. They make a deal with the Prosecuter over the phone to sell out their client then call the cliant and let them know they did everything they could to keep them out of prison/jail. Then the county turns around and bills the prisoner and put them into collection. Great way the constitution guarantees a citizens right to a fair trial!!! "
Life of a Preemie wrote on Jun 18, 2008 4:29 PM:
DOUGLAS FIELD wrote on Aug 1, 2008 10:26 AM:
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE $LOWLY FINDING OUT HOW EA$Y IT I$ FOR MIDDLE CLA$$ AND WORKING POOR AMERICAN$ TO FALL VICTIM TO OUR U$ MONETARY JUDICIAL $Y$TEM.
****WHEN THE US INNOCENT WERE ABANDONED BY THE GUILTY ****
The prison experts have reported that there are 100,000 innocent Americans currently being falsely imprisoned along with the 2,300,000 total US prison population nationwide.
Since our US Congress has never afforded poor prison inmates federal appeal legal counsel for their federal retrials,they have effectively closed the doors on these tens of thousands of innocent citizens ever being capable of possibly exonerating themselves to regain their freedom through being granted new retrials.
This same exact unjust situation was happening in our Southern States when poor and mostly uneducated Black Americans were being falsely imprisoned for endless decades without the needed educational skills to properly submit their own written federal trial appeals.
This unjust judicial process of making our poor and innocent prison inmates formulate and write their own federal appeal legal cases for possible retrials on their state criminal cases,is still in effect today even though everyone in our US judicial system knows that without proper legal representation, these tens of thousands of innocent prison inmates will be denied their rightful opportunities of ever being granted new trials from our federal appeal judges!!
Sadly, the true US *legal* Federal Appeal situation that occurs when any of our uneducated American prison inmates are forced to attempt to submit their own written Federal Appeals (from our prisons nationwide) without the assistance of proper legal counsel, is that they all are in reality being denied their legitimate rights for Habeas Corpus and will win any future Supreme Court Case concerning this injustice!
For our judicial system and our US Congressional Leaders Of The Free World to continue to pretend that this is a real and fair opportunity for our American Middle Class and Working Poor Citizens, only delays the very needed future change of Federal Financing of all these Federal appeals becoming a normal formula of Our American judicial system.
It was not so very long ago that Public Defenders became a Reality in this country.Prior that legal reality taking place, their were also some who thought giving anyone charged with a crime a free lawyer was a waste of taxpayers $$.
This facade of our Federal Appeal proce$$ is not worthy of the Greatest Country In The World!
***GREAT SOCIETIES THAT DO NOT PROTECT EVEN THEIR INNOCENT, BECOME THE GUILTY!
A MUST READ ABOUT AMERICAN INJUSTICE::
1) YAHOO AND 2) GOOGLE
MANNY GONZALES THE KID THAT EVERYONE FORGOT IN THE CA PRISON SYSTEM.** A JUDICIAL RIDE OF ONES LIFE !
lawyersforpooramericans@yahoo.com "