Reilly defends internal choice

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

Clark County public defenders, their federal counterparts and private attorneys spent two months lobbying commissioners and administrators for their preferred candidate to replace the county's chief public defender.

When Clark County Manager Thom Reilly named Marcus Cooper as his top choice for the job Tuesday, many wondered whether the decision was solely his.

Critics of the decision hoped that Reilly would hire an outside attorney to clean up the department, which has been lambasted for the low percentage of cases it takes to trial.

Cooper has been with the department for 23 years.

Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said Cooper has some "fine qualities," although he questioned the selection process.

"The search process apparently was politicized in an unseemly manner that hardly inspires confidence, and we believe helps explain why an insider was chosen rather than the candidate who had a proven record," Peck said.

"We are especially troubled by reports that the district attorney lobbied for his preferred candidates."

Peck was a proponent of candidate Franny Forsman, a federal public defender. Peck suggested that the district attorney's office lobbied heavily against Forsman. District Attorney Stewart Bell did not return telephone calls and could not be reached for comment.

Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams said Bell did not play a part in the decision to name the public defender.

"I never spoke with Stu Bell; his name never came up," said Williams, who added that the meeting with about a dozen county and federal public defenders did take place.

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said he met with several attorneys about the position, but never spoke with Bell.

"There was a certain group of people lobbying against one candidate," said Woodbury, who declined to name the group. "They felt there might be some radical changes that could be damaging."

Cooper was selected over Forsman and fellow deputy public defenders Ralph Baker and Peter Christiansen. He replaces Morgan Harris, who ran the division for more than two decades.

A study conducted in 1999 by the Massachusetts-based Spangenberg Group showed the county's public defender's office takes less than .06 percent of its indigent cases to trial. In large urban jurisdictions, the average is between 4 percent and 7 percent, the report shows.

Reilly said he followed his selection panel's recommendation and plans to present it to commissioners Tuesday.

Reilly said he too was lobbied extensively by public defenders and private attorneys.

"There's an expectation that issues in the public defender's office will be addressed," Reilly said. "It was a tough decision. Clearly people coming from the outside can make changes, but the suggestion people on the inside can't isn't a fair statement, and I don't think it's accurate."

Cooper said he is aware of the problems inside the department and intends to make "fundamental and substantial changes" if the commission ratifies Reilly's recommendation.

"I will look to improve the training our attorneys receive and with that will come an increased level of confidence that will eventually translate into more trials," Cooper said. "Having said that, I don't believe you can judge the effectiveness of an office by the number of trials it does."

Forsman did not return telephone calls Tuesday. But perhaps the most vocal criticism of Reilly's decision came from Forsman's husband, Elgin Simpson, who, as a member of a state task force, met with the Spangenberg Group before it was hired by the American Bar Association.

Simpson questioned how Cooper could be expected to make changes when he was by Harris' side for two decades.

"He has been a part of the process, and he hasn't done a thing the entire time he has been there," Simpson said. "He didn't say it was wrong when he was there, how is he going to say it is wrong now?"

If the commission agrees with Reilly's recommendation, Cooper will take office Nov. 1.