Public defender’s office issues warning

Launce Rake and Erica Johnson

Wednesday, April 2, 2003 | 9:43 a.m.

The Clark County public defender's office is so underfunded that it may cause courts to start throwing out guilty verdicts, and it may also prompt a class-action lawsuit that would cost taxpayers "a boatload of money," officials warned Tuesday.

The office is falling behind in its constitutionally mandated responsibility to represent the indigent who are charged with crimes, the man in charge of the public defender's office told the Clark County Commission on Tuesday.

The office has 69 attorneys, each with 200 to 300 cases. The lawyers are getting so overloaded that guilty verdicts against clients could soon be successfully challenged as unconstitutional, Public Defender Marcus Cooper said.

He said the office needs 50 more attorneys and dozens more social workers and paralegals to do the work properly. That would require additional funding in excess of $2.5 million a year.

Cooper warned that ignoring the problem will mean future convictions will start being thrown out by the courts because defendants didn't receive adequate legal representation.

County officials dealing with financial demands from throughout their government did not commit to provide more funding.

The County Commission's "deafening silence" could be the reason the problem has escalated, said Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU, who attended the meeting.

"I have yet to hear a single commissioner step forward and say, 'You know what, that office really is a mess and we need to step in and do something about it,' " he said.

Peck said a lawsuit could be the only way to force the commission to increase funding for the office.

"If the problem isn't fixed sooner rather than later, they're inviting a major class action lawsuit that will cause the county and voters a boatload of money," he said.

Cooper said a recent report commissioned by his office and prepared by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association showed glaring problems with the growing caseloads handled by Clark County public defenders.

For example:

-- The report notes that from 1983 to 2001 the number of new juvenile case assignments grew by nearly 400 percent, from 576 to 2,867, without one new attorney being added.

-- The office should have a new appellate unit meeting the association's standards.

-- The public defender's office needs new personnel to create and enforce clear performance guidelines and expectations and provide training.

And Tuesday wasn't the first time questions have been raised regarding alleged inadequate representation in the office due to heavy workloads and understaffing.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in February ruled that Robert H. Miranda, a former death row inmate, could sue the county and former public defender Morgan Harris over policies that he alleges led to poor legal representation.

Miranda was convicted and sentenced to death for the stabbing death of Manuel Torres in Las Vegas in August 1981 and spent 14 years on death row before the Nevada Supreme Court overturned his conviction and freed him.

That case is expected to be back in District Court within the next two months.

Much has changed in the office since Miranda's case such as inexperienced attorneys no longer being put on death penalty cases, said Jo Nell Thomas, Miranda's attorney in the civil case.

However, the lack of investigation that still plagues many cases is a concern that directly relates to outrageous caseloads, she said.

"It's impossible to do a good job if you have an overwhelming number of cases," she said. "Those attorneys don't have the time to give the case the attention the client deserves or that the county deserves."

Thomas said the report's revelations about juvenile defendants alone should compel commissioners to action.

"Some of the biggest constitutional issues have been in the juvenile setting," she said. "Many haven't been receiving counsel or the full recognition of rights. Here is an opportunity to turn around lives of kids."

But securing the additional funding needed to help repair the office could prove to be a challenge.

Cooper, who has been in charge of the office for 17 months, said the financing for dozens of new positions will be difficult to find at a time when the county is dealing with a fiscal crisis.

"It couldn't come at a worse time," he said.

But by making the changes incrementally, over a period of years, the immediate fiscal impact can be minimized, he said.

Peck said commissioners should delegate a funding package while making sure the representations of the NLDADA are followed.

"We're not unmindful of the other demands being made on county's resources," he said. "But we're talking about people that have no voice. No one is asking them to pour money into a sinkhole."

Peck said commissioners at the meeting asked him if he'd lobbied for the funding at the state level, a question he found "peculiar."

"It is the county's responsibility to make sure people, indigent clients, are represented in a manner compliant with the constitution," he said. "The report makes it clear that the county can't simply throw up its hands and saying, 'Hey, don't blame us, blame the state.' "

County Manager Thom Reilly said Cooper has already instituted a number of reforms that have improved performance at the public defender's office.

Among them are the office's first paralegals. They will begin to assist public defenders in a matter of weeks.

The office has also created a sexual assault team responsible for representing clients charged with those crimes.

"I'm pleased with the positive changes that have occurred since he's been at the helm," Reilly said. "Although there are still a number of difficult challenges ahead, I believe the office is better equipped to provide assistance to their clients."