"Crisis" at public defender's office delays justice, costs taxpayers

ABC 30 Action News KFSN-TV FRESNO, CA

By Brian Johnson | Updated 1 hr 48 mins ago

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Public defenders in Fresno County are
refusing to take the most serious cases coming through the courts,
leaving taxpayers to pick up an extra bill to defend accused criminals.

"They're so overwhelmed with the number of cases they have, they
don't have enough time to prepare these cases," said legal analyst
Tony Capozzi.

For almost two months now, the publicly funded public defender's
office has refused to take serious cases, leaving private attorneys
to pick up the slack.

When the man accused of a series of random shootings on Fresno County
highways came to court, the public defender refused to take the case.

The suspect charged with murdering a transgender woman also won't
have a public defender.

Action News acquired a letter sent by the head public defender,
Elizabeth Diaz, to the county and the courts in December, announcing
her intention to reject a lot of the most serious cases. Diaz blamed
an uptick in crime over the last few months and said she doesn't have
enough attorneys capable of handling this type of case.

When the public defender declines cases, private attorneys have to
pick them up and the county foots a bill outside of the usual budget
for courts.

"When the great recession hit the County of Fresno there were many
cuts across departments --whether it be the public defender's office,
the district attorney's office -- all of them were cut, and right now
we continue to try to rebuild these departments," said county
supervisor Nathan Magsig.

The public defender's office had 135 employees in 2008, but by 2012
they were down to 78. They're back up to 120 now, but in the
meantime, the county has grown and the caseload has too.

Two supervisors told Action News they recognize the importance of
public defenders in combination with law enforcement and the district
attorney's office.

"All three of those entities work together within the justice family
and if one has shortcomings, it creates complications throughout the
entire process," said county supervisor Andreas Borgeas.

But the county is also facing a lawsuit from the ACLU, the American
Civil Liberties Union, claiming public defenders here are impossibly
overburdened, with some of them assigned to handle 1000 felonies a
year -- way more than the 150 recommended by state guidelines.

When we reported on the ACLU's complaints in 2015, we mentioned the
family and friends of murdered Parlier coach Artie Gomez finding out
how slowly the courts can move. Three years later, the man accused of
killing Gomez still isn't set for a trial.
That kind of justice delayed is often justice denied, according to
Capozzi. He called the staffing situation a crisis.

"It's important that this issue be dealt with now and be dealt with
quickly because the public is suffering, defendant is suffering, and
the criminal justice system is suffering," he said.

The public defender's office didn't respond to repeated requests for
comment, but the letter says they're re-evaluating the situation
every two weeks.

Source link:
http://abc30.com/politics/crisis-at-public-defenders-office-delays-justice-costs-taxpayers/3080562/