Commission agrees changes are needed in public defender’s office

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2001 | 9:07 a.m.

Clark County commissioners agreed Tuesday that significant changes must be made in the public defender's office before also agreeing to name longtime deputy public defender Marcus Cooper to the top post.

The appointment, which some critics believe was politically driven, prompted state Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, to attend the commission meeting.

Neal, who said he has kept track of the office since it opened in the 1960s, said he hopes the new public defender would vigorously represent indigent defendants and that the county would provide sufficient funding to do so.

The senator said he has heard complaints that the relationship between the public defender's and district attorney's offices is a bit too cozy.

"I stand here before you to ask you to watch this office," Neal said.

Commissioner Myrna Williams said she has heard similar complaints about the relationships involving public defenders and prosecutors.

"I don't know what happened before," Williams said. "I know what I want now."

Cooper replaces Morgan Harris, who ran the office for more than two decades.

Clark County Manager Thom Reilly, who recommended Cooper, has been heavily criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union, whose members wanted an outside attorney to run the office.

Reilly said Cooper will be evaluated and the manager's office will keep close tabs on the effectiveness of the department, which has taken less than 1 percent of its cases to trial.

Reilly said he chose Cooper over federal Public Defender Franny Forsman and county Deputy Public Defenders Ralph Baker and Peter Christiansen because of his success trying criminal cases, as well as his experience at all court levels.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said his office will remain skeptical because he believes Reilly chose a politically acceptable candidate rather than Forsman, who Peck believes is more qualified.

But, he said, the ACLU will support Cooper.

"Mr. Cooper is no doubt a fine person and a competent professional," Peck said. "We at the ACLU pledge whatever support he requests in the hope that he will fulfill his promise to reform a public defender's office that has performed dismally for years."