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Following ACLU of Washington Lawsuit, Grant County Agrees to Overhaul Public Defense System (11/7/2005)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
SEATTLE -- Settling
a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington
and Columbia Legal Services, Grant County officials have agreed to overhaul the
county’s system for providing legal defense to people charged with felonies who
cannot afford an attorney.
“The right of a person accused of
a crime to be assisted by a competent attorney is fundamental to a criminal
justice system that is fair to all. This settlement sends a strong message
to counties that they need to provide public defense systems that are fair and
effective,” said Julya Hampton, Legal Program Director for the ACLU of
Washington.
Under the settlement, the county will reduce excessive
caseloads, guarantee that public defense lawyers are qualified to handle serious
felony cases, and provide adequate funding for investigators and expert
witnesses. Grant County is located in the eastern part of the state.
The parties will select a monitor to ensure compliance by the
county during the six-year term of the agreement – the first time a county
public defense system in Washington will be subject to comprehensive
monitoring.
The county agreed that its public defense system will
comply with standards endorsed by the Washington State Bar Association and
authorized by the Washington Legislature. In 1989 the Washington
Legislature passed legislation requiring local governments to adopt standards
for the delivery of indigent defense services. Yet a majority of counties
in the state have not adopted these standards.
In 2005 the
Washington Legislature enacted House Bill 1542 that would have established, for
the first time, limited state funding for public defense programs that complied
with the standards. Currently it is up to counties to fund public
defenders for felony defendants who can’t afford their own attorney.
However, the legislature failed to approve the funding, leaving the counties on
their own in funding public defense and deciding whether to comply with, or even
adopt, the standards. The ACLU will continue to work in the 2006 session
to gain full state funding of House Bill 1542 to provide public defense money to
counties throughout the state that pledge to comply with the Washington State
Bar Association’s standards.
“It is
a miscarriage of justice when people in Washington who are indigent and accused
of a crime are deprived of effective representation,” said Joachim Morrison,
staff attorney at Columbia Legal Services. “The lack of standards and
accountability means that accused people in some counties may not receive a fair
trial. Poor people in our justice system should not have to fear that
their constitutional rights may be violated.”
The ACLU and
Columbia Legal Services filed the lawsuit in April 2004 on behalf of Jeffrey
Best, Daniel Campos and Gary Dale Hutt. The three were charged with felony
offenses and alleged that Grant County’s public defense system didn’t provide
indigent felony defendants with effective assistance of counsel. The lawsuit
also included a taxpayer plaintiff, Greg Hansen, who sought to ensure that the
county provide constitutionally adequate defense to indigent persons and to use
public funds wisely. The court granted the plaintiffs class-action status in
August 2004.
The settlement came after Kittitas County Superior
Court Judge Michael E. Cooper ruled in October that indigent defendants in Grant
County have a well-grounded fear of not receiving effective legal counsel from
the county's public defense system. The judge found that Grant County’s
system overworked its lawyers, failed to provide effective supervision, and
allowed the Grant County Prosecutor's Office to interfere with funding for
expert witnesses and investigators.
In his ruling, Judge
Cooper found it was “virtually uncontested” that the Grant County public defense
system in place before April 2004 “suffered from systemic deficiencies, ” such
as public defenders with grossly excessive case loads or little meaningful
supervision. Judge Cooper noted that although some improvements have been
made with the 2005 public defense contract, serious problems persist in the
current system – and that
“it still creates a well-grounded fear of
immediate invasion of the right to effective assistance of counsel.”
In addition to the deficiencies listed by Judge Cooper, the
lawsuit also argued that Grant County’s public
defenders:
· Failed to communicate with clients
· Did
not interview potential witnesses
· Failed to use investigators or
experts
· Failed to properly advise clients before entering guilty
pleas
· Did not file critical legal motions
“We are very
pleased with the settlement, which requires the county to comply with state and
national standards, provides for a monitor and implements strong enforcement
mechanisms,” said David Taylor, an ACLU attorney in the case. “Nobody
should face felony charges without the assistance of an effective and qualified
attorney. This settlement should ensure that poor people in Grant County
receive that assistance.”
"We have a process to determine if a
person accused of a crime should be deprived of life or liberty," added Don
Scaramastra, co-counsel for the plaintiffs. "A qualified, committed, and
effective lawyer is an absolutely essential part of that process. This
settlement will help ensure that people in Grant County who can't afford such a
lawyer get one.”
The lawsuit has been handled by
attorneys at the Perkins Coie and Garvey Schubert Barer law firms. The
litigation team includes ACLU cooperating attorneys David Taylor, Breena Roos
and Beth Colgan from Perkins Coie and ACLU staff attorney Nancy Talner. Garvey
Schubert Barer attorneys include Don Scaramastra, Justin Dolan and Charles
Cottrell and Lori Salzarulo. Attorneys who have handled the case for Columbia
Legal Services are Pat Arthur, Joachim Morrison and Chris
Kerkering.
The ACLU will continue to review practices in other
counties to ensure that their indigent defense systems are constitutionally
adequate. The 2004 ACLU of Washington report, “The Unfulfilled Promise of
Gideon,” showed that a majority of Washington counties lacked comprehensive
standards for the delivery of public defense services, and recommended improved
state assistance to ensure these publicly funded legal services meet basic
fiscal and constitutional standards of accountability. The report is
available online at http://www.aclu-wa.org/Publications.
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