Judge Hears Testimony On Overworked Public Defenders Office

From The (New Orleans) Times Picayune:

An overwhelming caseload prevents the city’s public defenders from adequately representing poor defendants, a top official from the public defender’s office testified Friday before a judge who already has released several inmates from jail due to the backlog.

Stephen Singer, who was named lead trial counsel for the public defenders office in August 2006, said the office was overworked and wasn’t effectively representing indigent clients before Hurricane Katrina. The Aug. 29, 2005, storm only exacerbated the problem, he added.

“We’re getting better, but it’s going to take a long time to fix everything,” Singer said.

Singer testified before District Judge Arthur Hunter, who is holding hearings on the state of the short-staffed and underfunded public defenders office.

In October 2006, Hunter ordered the release of four inmates from a city jail and postponed their trials, saying their constitutional right to adequate legal counsel was being violated.

Hunter, who has threatened to release more inmates, is now weighing the fates of at least 50 defendants whose cases are pending in his courtroom. Hunter gave prosecutors and public defenders until Wednesday morning to present written arguments. He said he expects to rule Thursday or Friday.

Singer told Hunter on Friday that 12 public defenders were handling at least 1,371 cases in Orleans Parish’s criminal district court as of Nov. 9, 2006, an average of 114 cases per lawyer.