Comments on: The Georgia peach has turned rotten

By: Indigent defense on trial

Indigent defense on trial — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:12:32 +0000

[...] third story is just an update of sorts on the rotten Georgia peach. Jamie Ryan Weis, whom the Georgia Supreme Court told to “fcuk off, coz [...]

By: Bad ad-Weis: spitting on Barker | a public defender

Bad ad-Weis: spitting on Barker | a public defender — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:13:54 +0000

[...] Jamie Ryan Weis Soon to be on death row Georgia, USA [...]

By: Denise

Denise — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:23:00 +0000

I read an article over the weekend that stated once council was appointed, no rights had been violated. Basically they shot the attorneys in the foot. However, my question at this point would be: If a defendant had requested to be represented in their initial trial and the judge told them “we don’t do that here, but if you don’t like the outcome today you can certainly appeal the decision and an attorney will be appointed for you at that time,” would this have be a violation of a constitutional right in a criminal matter ?

By: It’s time to wake up (updated) | a public defender

It’s time to wake up (updated) | a public defender — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:51:32 +0000

[...] of too many people in the justice system are beginning to reverberate throughout the country: Georgia is on its 4th lawsuit to force indigent defense spending; Michigan is being sued by three [...]

By: S

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:18:33 +0000

Those numbers put our appellate defender caseloads in Kansas into a different perspective. Caseloads in Kansas are still too high, but at least they have more than 2 1/2 attorneys for the entire state. Yikes.

By: Bill Thompson

Bill Thompson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:34:34 +0000

I’m sure the situation varies from state to state, but in my area, one of the sore spots relates to forfeiture. Apart from seized money, we have an inordinate number of motor vehicles glommed as “criminal tools” which are the subject of seizure and sale. All of this money fines its way into the prosecution’s coffers and none is designated for indigent defense. They recently grabbed a cool $9,000,000 which is designated to help fund a new crime lab. I think even the general public would support the concept of convicted individuals funding indigent defense, particularly when a large number of persons whose property has been forfeited are themselves within this “can’t afford a lawyer” population.

By: Geg Jones

Geg Jones — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:24:51 +0000

On Dec. 14, I attended a pair of legislative hearings in Detroit, dealing with the subject of funding for indigent defense work. The Michigan State Appellate Defender Office handles up to 25% of indigent appeals. Their representative said that last year, they managed to reduce sentences in our mandatory-guidelines scheme by a total of 293 years in 595 sentencing appeals, by simply catching errors in calculating the guidelines. At $35,000 per inmate, per year, that’s a savings to the Corrections Department of over $8,000,000, from that office alone. This goes on year after year. I’ll bet Georgia could find similar savings, if it were to fund the office adequately.

By: Bill Thompson

Bill Thompson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:47:14 +0000

I know it wasn’t your intent, but I’m tempted to bring out these Georgia stats the next time my appellate attorneys complain about their case loads. It’s situations like this that make a pd feel like a Judas Goat…