North Coast Journal (Humboldt County)

Saturday, November 11, 2017 5:35 PM

Uncertainty Surrounds Monday's Public Defender Hearing

The lawsuit challenging embattled Humboldt County
Public Defender David Marcus’ hiring is bound for
a hearing Monday but it’s hard to say what to
expect. It could be the decisive moment in the
9-month-old lawsuit, an evidentiary hearing on
the merits that ultimately answers whether Marcus
meets minimum state qualifications for the post.
Or the parties could convene in visiting Judge
Marjorie Carter’s court simply to set some future hearing dates.

Local attorney Patrik Griego, who filed the suit
on behalf of current and former public defender
employees and clients, as well as a few local
taxpayers, had asked Carter to schedule the Nov.
13 date for a hearing to determine whether Marcus
meets the state qualification of having been a
“practicing attorney in all the courts of the
state for at least the year preceding” his hire.
But in its reply to Griego’s motion, the county
is arguing that Griego is trying to hurry the
case forward, depriving the county of its right
to depose witnesses and research its defense.

Griego counters that the county is dragging its
feet, engaged in a pattern of "gamesmanship"
intended to delay the case until it becomes moot
on the anniversary of Marcus' Feb. 8 hire. Then,
even if Marcus is found to have been unqualified
at the time of his hire, he will have spent the
past year practicing law in local courts and
could be simply rehired, Griego worries.

Marcus was living in Florida at the time of his
hire and had been primarily working as an
insurance adjuster there. During a deposition in
the case, Marcus testified that during that year,
he also worked as a contract attorney for the
Walnut Creek firm Cella, Lange and Cella, which
is owned by his good friend, but Marcus conceded
he didn’t appear in court or author any legal
pleadings during that span. He also testified
that he had no contract with the law firm and no records of his hours worked.

The county contends that California's decades-old
statute simply requires Marcus to have been
licensed to practice law in California for the
year prior to his hire. Griego, meanwhile, has
argued that the statute requires Marcus to have
been a practicing attorney appearing in civil and criminal courts.

County Counsel Jeffrey Blanck began deposing
witnesses in the case last week and has
additional depositions scheduled all the way
through Feb. 22. He has argued the depositions
are necessary to properly defend the county,
while Griego has contended that none of the
witnesses can speak to the heart of the case —
which is whether Marcus’ immediate work history
meets the state’s minimum qualification for the post.

Because Blanck didn't file a separate motion
seeking to continue Monday's hearing, meaning
Carter won’t address the matter until the
hearing, it seems all parties will walk into
court Monday uncertain of what to expect.

Source link:
https://www.northcoastjournal.com/NewsBlog/archives/2017/11/11/uncertainty-surrounds-mondays-public-defender-hearing