New Orleans - Public defender faces contempt: Lawyers not picked fast enough for judge
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The Times-Picayune
Public defender faces contempt
Lawyers not picked fast enough for judge
Thursday, September 14, 2006
By Laura Maggi
One of the architects of the new indigent defense system in New Orleans faces a contempt hearing -- and possibly jail time -- after Criminal District Judge Frank Marullo on Wednesday ruled Steve Singer did not comply with his order to swiftly appoint lawyers to three defendants facing death penalty charges.
Marullo had called Singer into his courtroom Wednesday morning to explain who would take over the three capital cases on his docket, which include a first-degree murder charge and two cases of aggravated rape of a child younger than 12.
The previously appointed lawyers for all three defendants recently quit the Orleans Parish Indigent Defender Program after its newly appointed board decided to no longer allow its lawyers to have private practices on the side. The new policy requires all public defenders in New Orleans to be full-time staff attorneys.
"All of these defendants deserve due process of law under the Sixth Amendment (to the U.S. Constitution) and the victims . . . are entitled to a conclusion of these cases," Marullo said.
Singer, who was hired by the board to lead the Indigent Defender Program's trial division two weeks ago, told the judge he had yet to determine who would take over the cases.
With that news, Marullo set a contempt hearing for Singer, then denied a motion seeking to remove Marullo as judge for that proceeding. Later in the day, Marullo changed his mind about the recusal motion, which will be decided by Judge Arthur Hunter on Friday or Monday. The contempt hearing will be held after the hearing on the motion.
Singer could face jail or a fine if a judge finds him in contempt.
Marullo's action comes as a number of judges have expressed frustration with policy changes at the public defender office that have prompted six attorneys to resign. They have criticized the lack of a transition period for the courtrooms that have recently lost attorneys, which has meant that some scheduled trials cannot proceed. Some judges also have bemoaned the loss of talented, experienced lawyers, questioning whether the emphasis on having full-time attorneys is truly essential.
Ronald Sullivan, the Yale University law professor brought on by the board that oversees the public defender program, said the change is critical to building a system of legal representation for poor defendants that is better than what existed before Hurricane Katrina.
"The pre-Katrina part-time system created a perverse incentive for lawyers to spend as little time as possible on their public cases and as much time as possible on private cases," he said. "As a result, the poor citizens who were provided a lawyer paid for by the state received constitutionally inadequate representation."
Singer, who is a law professor at Loyola University, said he did not know when the indigent office would hire new attorneys prepared to handle capital cases. They could be hired along with a roster of new attorneys the office is recruiting, he said.
After Katrina, the office had three attorneys in the capital division, but Dwight Doskey and Jeffery Smith have resigned and the third attorney has been reassigned.
Singer said part of the indigent office's capital woes could be resolved if District Attorney Eddie Jordan's office assesses which cases could result in a death penalty from a jury and reduce the charge in cases where that is unlikely. Singer said he thinks such a review is ongoing.
But Jordan said he has not changed his position about indigent defendants facing capital charges. "We will legally and justly prosecute these cases within the confines of the law," he said.
Doskey, who before he resigned was handling 21 of the 27 capital cases, has been told by most judges, including Marullo, that he can't back out of his cases. On Wednesday he submitted a writ of Marullo's decision not to let him withdraw from the cases to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, but it was rejected. He plans to appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
A trial is scheduled in Marullo's courtroom next week for one of Doskey's clients, Irvin Rousell, who was indicted in May 2005 on a rape charge involving a 9-year-old girl. Another man facing a child rape charge, Kendrich Thomas, who was indicted just four days before Katrina, has a trial scheduled for early October. The first-degree murder case against Dewayne Dobbins is set for November.
. . . . . . .
Laura Maggi can be reached at lmaggi@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3316.
The Times-Picayune
Public defender faces contempt
Lawyers not picked fast enough for judge
Thursday, September 14, 2006
By Laura Maggi
One of the architects of the new indigent defense system in New Orleans faces a contempt hearing -- and possibly jail time -- after Criminal District Judge Frank Marullo on Wednesday ruled Steve Singer did not comply with his order to swiftly appoint lawyers to three defendants facing death penalty charges.
Marullo had called Singer into his courtroom Wednesday morning to explain who would take over the three capital cases on his docket, which include a first-degree murder charge and two cases of aggravated rape of a child younger than 12.
The previously appointed lawyers for all three defendants recently quit the Orleans Parish Indigent Defender Program after its newly appointed board decided to no longer allow its lawyers to have private practices on the side. The new policy requires all public defenders in New Orleans to be full-time staff attorneys.
"All of these defendants deserve due process of law under the Sixth Amendment (to the U.S. Constitution) and the victims . . . are entitled to a conclusion of these cases," Marullo said.
Singer, who was hired by the board to lead the Indigent Defender Program's trial division two weeks ago, told the judge he had yet to determine who would take over the cases.
With that news, Marullo set a contempt hearing for Singer, then denied a motion seeking to remove Marullo as judge for that proceeding. Later in the day, Marullo changed his mind about the recusal motion, which will be decided by Judge Arthur Hunter on Friday or Monday. The contempt hearing will be held after the hearing on the motion.
Singer could face jail or a fine if a judge finds him in contempt.
Marullo's action comes as a number of judges have expressed frustration with policy changes at the public defender office that have prompted six attorneys to resign. They have criticized the lack of a transition period for the courtrooms that have recently lost attorneys, which has meant that some scheduled trials cannot proceed. Some judges also have bemoaned the loss of talented, experienced lawyers, questioning whether the emphasis on having full-time attorneys is truly essential.
Ronald Sullivan, the Yale University law professor brought on by the board that oversees the public defender program, said the change is critical to building a system of legal representation for poor defendants that is better than what existed before Hurricane Katrina.
"The pre-Katrina part-time system created a perverse incentive for lawyers to spend as little time as possible on their public cases and as much time as possible on private cases," he said. "As a result, the poor citizens who were provided a lawyer paid for by the state received constitutionally inadequate representation."
Singer, who is a law professor at Loyola University, said he did not know when the indigent office would hire new attorneys prepared to handle capital cases. They could be hired along with a roster of new attorneys the office is recruiting, he said.
After Katrina, the office had three attorneys in the capital division, but Dwight Doskey and Jeffery Smith have resigned and the third attorney has been reassigned.
Singer said part of the indigent office's capital woes could be resolved if District Attorney Eddie Jordan's office assesses which cases could result in a death penalty from a jury and reduce the charge in cases where that is unlikely. Singer said he thinks such a review is ongoing.
But Jordan said he has not changed his position about indigent defendants facing capital charges. "We will legally and justly prosecute these cases within the confines of the law," he said.
Doskey, who before he resigned was handling 21 of the 27 capital cases, has been told by most judges, including Marullo, that he can't back out of his cases. On Wednesday he submitted a writ of Marullo's decision not to let him withdraw from the cases to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, but it was rejected. He plans to appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
A trial is scheduled in Marullo's courtroom next week for one of Doskey's clients, Irvin Rousell, who was indicted in May 2005 on a rape charge involving a 9-year-old girl. Another man facing a child rape charge, Kendrich Thomas, who was indicted just four days before Katrina, has a trial scheduled for early October. The first-degree murder case against Dewayne Dobbins is set for November.
. . . . . . .
Laura Maggi can be reached at lmaggi@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3316.
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