WAVE 3 - Taxpayers face rising costs for public defenders

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - What's the price of justice? In Louisville taxpayers are spending millions of dollars a year defending accused criminals who can't afford an attorney. In fact an increasing number of accused criminals are getting a free defense. One that can be very effective.

Innocent until proven guilty. And a country willing to pay to get you off the hook.

"One of our highest values is that the right to council is essential if the state wants to prosecute somebody," said Ed Monahan,  chief administrator for the Kentucky Department for Public Advocacy, the agency that oversees the state's public defenders.

In 1963 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled states had to fund free legal counsel for criminal defendants who couldn't afford it. 50 years later, the public defender system in Kentucky is a statewide network of attorneys, investigators and advocates that cost taxpayers $41,500,000 a year.

In 2011, it was public defenders who successfully fought to have Kerry Porter's murder conviction overturned. In 2012, public defenders worked cases for more than 185,000 of Kentucky's accused.

complete article and video 

KYSC - Rodriguez - Unanimous Verdict

Rodriguez v. Commonwealth, 2012-SC-000049-MR (rendered 4/25/13) (to be published)

The Court reversed a Class A felony incest conviction for new proceedings because the trial court’s jury instruction, which covered an extremely long time period, failed to require a unanimous determination beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim was under 12 years of age at the time of the offense.  

Susan Balliet was the appellate attorney.

Contributed by Kathleen Schmidt

KYSC - Johnson - Unanimous Verdict

Johnson v. Commonwealth, 2011-SC-000365-MR (rendered 4/25/13) (to be published), 

The evidence suggested the child victim had sustained numerous injuries over time, yet the jury instructions failed to specify what injury or abusive act the jury should use as a basis for finding guilt. When the evidence could support guilt based on more than one criminal act, the instructions must require the jury to specify which criminal act is relied on in finding guilt.  Otherwise the verdict is non-unanimous in violation of both Section 7 of the Kentucky Constitution and federal due process. 

Susan Balliet was the appellate attorney.

Contributed by Kathleen Schmidt 

DPA social worker program changes lives, but lacks funding - Ronnie Ellis/CNHI News Service

This story is being published in newspapers around Kentucky.

She was just trying to help. “Susan” flushed her husband’s pain pills down the toilet, hoping to make it easier for “James” to stay sober.

Instead, strung out and frustrated, he retaliated by assaulting her.

Susan (not her real name) didn’t suffer any serious injuries but she wasn’t taking any chances, either. She swore out a complaint and James (also not his actual name) found himself in front of Knox District Judge John Paul Chappell.

James, 27, a high school dropout, has been receiving a disability check since he was in school and can’t hold a job. Susan is a food service worker, making minimum wage, which along with James’ disability check, is all the income they have to support themselves and their two elementary school-aged children.

Susan wants James to come home, but only if he can stay off drugs. Facing jail time, James

If he goes to jail, it’ll cost the county about $11,000 a year and he won’t get help for his drug problem.

James’ and Susan’s best, maybe only, hope is Joanne Sizemore, a social worker for the Department of Public Advocacy.

Sizemore is one of only eight social workers statewide who are assigned to cases like James’ by the DPA, the public defenders’ office. She works out of the London DPA office and works with offenders in Laurel, Whitley, Knox, Clay and Leslie counties.

Clearly, she’s stretched pretty thin. Sometimes she is in court in one county when a client is before a judge in another.

The program works — it has an 80 percent success rate — at least where it’s available.

Wednesday, DPA’s social worker alternative sentencing program was recognized as one of the 25 most innovative government programs in the country by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

complete article

KYSC - Kingrey - Unanimous Verdict

Kingrey v. Commonwealth, 2010-SC-000784-MR (rendered 4/25/13)(to be published), 

The Court held Kingrey was denied a unanimous verdict when the jury instruction allowed him to be convicted of one crime based on two separate and distinct criminal acts that violated the same criminal statute. Palpable error occurred since Kingrey cannot challenge the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal without knowing which alleged act formed the basis of his conviction.   

Erin Yang was the appellate attorney.

Contributed by Kathleen Schmidt

New Practice Advisory from Immigrant Defense Project on Moncrieffe

IDP and Partners Release Advisory On Implications of Moncrieffe v. Holder

IDP, the American Immigration Council, and the National Immigration Project have issued a practice advisory on the implications for drug charges and other issues involving the categorical approach of the Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision in Moncrieffe v. Holder. The Supreme Court held that an offense that punishes the transfer of small amounts of marijuana for no remuneration cannot be deemed a “drug trafficking crime” aggravated felony under the categorical approach.  The Court’s 7-2 decision is also likely to have a beneficial impact on some other key issues regarding the proper way to assess the immigration consequences of convictions. 

The practice advisory covers: (1) the holding in Moncrieffe; (2) the decision’s potential broader implications; (3) strategies for noncitizen criminal defendants; and (4) steps that lawyers (or immigrants themselves) should take immediately in pending or already concluded removal proceedings affected by Moncrieffe.


link to  practice advisory

DPA Social Worker Program - Top 25 Innovations in Government

Today the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University announced the Top 25 programs in this year’s Innovations in American Government Award competition. These government initiatives represent the dedicated efforts of city, state, federal, and tribal governments and address a host of policy issues including crime prevention, economic development, environmental and community revitalization, employment, education, and health care. Selected by a cohort of policy experts, researchers, and practitioners, four finalists and one winner of the Innovations in American Government Award will be announced in the fall. A full list of the Top 25 programs is available here. 

“These Top 25 innovations in government offer real, tangible ways to protect our most disadvantaged citizens, educate the next-generation workforce, and utilize data analytics to enhance government performance,” said Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in Government program at the Ash Center. “Despite diminishing resources, these government programs have developed model innovations that other struggling agencies should be inspired to replicate and adapt to their own communities.”

Included in the programs selected is the Department of Public Advocacy's Social Worker Program.

Alternative Sentencing Social Worker Program Commonwealth of Kentucky
In the Alternative Sentencing Social Worker Program, social workers—with public defenders—develop and present individualized alternative sentencing plans to the court as options other than incarceration. Persons who would normally be jailed or imprisoned stay in the community, receive services, and become less likely to reoffend.