Prior to appointment as counsel for an indigent defendant in a capital case, an attorney shall obtain certification from the Capital Commission pursuant to Appt. George Holmes continues as Appeals director, a job he has held for the last decade. First, the staffing data that counties provide to the California Department of Justice (DOJ) does not include individuals providing service through contracts or direct payments. The U.S. Constitution prohibits individuals from being deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. <> In 2021, the Capital Commission certified 10 attorneys to accept appointments as lead trial counsel, trial co-counsel, and/or appellate counsel certification. Asshown in Figure10, the number of arrests per attorney in district attorney and public defender offices in the 32 reporting counties declined between 200910 an 201819, indicating that caseloads were decreasing. For example, sufficient resources can enable indigent defense providers to spend the time necessary to develop a trusting relationship with their clients in order to obtain information that can be critical to a defense, to assess what outcomes are desired (such as to minimize time spent incarcerated or to avoid immigration consequences), and to assist clients to determine how they would like to proceed in their cases. 4 0 obj <> endobj Differences in Staffing Ratios. Indigent defense is generally provided in a combination of three ways: (1)public defender offices operated by the government, (2)private law firms or attorneys that contract with the government to provide representation in a certain number of cases and/or over a certain amount of time, or (3)individual private attorneys who are appointed by the court to specific cases. Andr de Gruy serves as State Defender. As such, these defendants may choose to settle a case and avoid losing their jobs rather than contesting the case and going to trial. Such racial disparities are particularly notable for African Americans and Hispanics. In contrast, per arrest spending on district attorney offices for almost threefourths of all counties was between $800 to $2,400 per arrest. Deprivation of conflictfree and independent representation. Despite primarily being a county responsibility, the state has increased its involvement with the indigent defense system in recent years by providing funding and requiring certain assessments. Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System, Lack of Consistent Data and Metrics to Fully Evaluate Indigent Defense ServiceLevels, Wide Range of Metrics and Standards Used to Measure Effective Provision of Indigent Defense Services, Workload, Efficiency, and Quality Metrics, Comparisons of Limited Data Raise Questions About Service Levels. We do so by providing constitutionally and statutorily mandated representation that is effective, zealous, inspired and compassionate. Resource Counsel; Habeas Assistance and Training Counsel; and State Capital Defenders Association. Most counties use at least two of the three ways described above to provide representation. This variation suggests that the difference between caseloads for public defender and district attorney offices can be much greater in certain counties, which raises questions regarding whether defendants across the state are receiving similar levels of service and quality ofservice. There are challenges in collecting data on the quality of indigent defense. Inaddition, the ability of indigent defense providers to effectively represent their clients can be undermined if they have significantly less resources than the prosecutors seeking to convict their clients. Uponan individuals request or a court order, counties must also provide representation in other specified cases where liberty may be at stake, such as mental health civil commitments. endobj (Doc. Effective June 1, 2021 Jennifer Morgan joined our staff as the first Parent Defense Program Manager. Federal law and local court rules govern the procedure for implementing the right to counsel. Staffinglevels in the remaining counties were between 60.1percent to 80percent of those of theircounterparts. In California, counties are primarily responsible for providing and paying for indigent defense services. The second priority is to countycontracted private law firms or attorneys. For example, various interactionssuch as being arrested, appearing in court routinely for proceedings, completing required community service, and being incarcerated both pretrial and posttrialcan have consequences for defendants employment, child custody, housing, or immigration status (such as the loss of legal status and deportation). In counties with populations of more than 1.3million people, state law requires courts appoint attorneys to defendants in a particular priority order. We also compare such data between counties. For example, technology programs used by different actors (such as the public defender office, sheriffs office, or court) may be not be programmed to capture certain data. As discussed above, the U.S. and California Constitutions guarantee the right to effective attorney assistance (unless knowingly and intelligently waived) to ensure that defendants in criminal proceedings receive equal protection under law and due process before being deprived of life or liberty. Kelsey has been a staff attorney for over ten years. A total of $4million from the General Fund was provided in 202021 ($3.5million ongoing) for these purposes. In recognition of some of the challenges with these above metrics, other metrics focus on obtaining information directly from defendants through survey mechanisms (such as the percent reporting that they felt their attorney listened to their needs). Also on June 1, 2021, Kelsey Rushing became the Capital Defense director. Second, these metrics can be impacted by choices made by defendantssuch as some defendants accepting a plea offer in order to resolve a case as quickly as possible. On the other hand, some assert that the indigent defense system needs similar or more resources than district attorney offices because the system does not have the benefit of significant support from other governmental entitiessuch as law enforcement agencies that investigate and present cases to district attorney offices or forensic laboratories that test potential evidence. <> Positions perform duties under limited supervision, which requires an advanced knowledge of administrative policies and procedures, and general understanding of OSPD . Additionally, if equity is a key legislative concern, the Legislature could require that metrics be broken out by key factorssuch as by race, income, and/or type of offensein order to enable assessment of whether and how certain groups are being disproportionately impacted by the level of resources supporting the indigent defense system and how indigent services are provided. In this section, we use the term indigent defense to refer collectively to (1)countyfunded public defender offices, (2)contracts with attorneys, and (3)courtappointed private attorneys. In more recent years, various jurisdictions have used weighted. Additionally, effective assistance can result in the identification of mitigating circumstances or relevant defenses that can lead to better plea deals, lesser charges, or dismissal of casesall of which can help mitigate the major life consequences that could be experienced by individuals. Application For Appointment Of Counsel. It also prohibits individuals from being denied equal protection under law. At felony case termination, court-appointed counsel represented 82% of State defendants in the 75 largest counties in 1996 and 66% of Federal defendants in 1998 . As such, effective defense, including indigent defense, is a key tool to help ensure that all individuals are treated equitably in criminal proceedings. As part of this requirement, the state or OSPD should establish clear definitions for how to track and report data (such as ensuring that all jurisdictions count the number of cases in the same way). Alternatively, the Legislature could contract with external researchers to help establish specific outcome and performance measures. In April 2001, the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent . Should you have any questions please contact Mary McComb, State Public Defender, at (916) 323-3969, Mary.McComb@ospd.ca.gov. Accordingly, we recommend the Legislature statutorily define those metrics it believes are necessary to more directly evaluate the quality of indigent defense statewide. 2008) under one umbrella and to develop proposals for a statewide public defense system. Individuals charged with a crime have the constitutional right to effective assistance of legal counsel to ensure that they receive equal protection and due process before being deprived of their liberty. ) UAhX]#?C|K V9ovh5(u{y6,c(dMaK%{+@Kfe*? As such, effective defense counsel is necessary to ensure a defendant has a fair trial against governmentfunded and trained prosecutorsirrespective of their incomelevel. Indigent Defense Reform Proposal This is known as indigent defense.. Below, we recommend steps that the Legislature could take to ensure it has the necessary information to determine whether a problem exists with indigent defense service levels, what type of problem exists, and how to effectively address the problem. For example, in 201819, spending on district attorney offices was 82percent higher than on indigent defense. Require Counties Collect and Report Data. In California, counties are primarily responsible for providing and paying for indigent defense. Get the Counsel requesting accomplished. <> The 202223 budget subsequently provided $1million for this purpose. A State Plan is an OSHA-approved safety and health program that enforces its own occupational safety and health standards which are required to be at least as effective as federal OSHA's, but may have different or additional requirements. 8 0 obj There should exist, at a minimum, parity between fulltime indigent defense providers and fulltime prosecutors in net compensation, as well as benefits or an amount sufficient to provide benefits of the same value. This means that the magnitude of the difference in spending on district attorney offices and indigent defense can be much greater in certain counties. Engage in independent fact investigation. There are certain data limitations that offer important context for the comparisons provided in this report regarding indigent defense service levels. 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