Suit filed against county's indigent defense system

By BETSY BUTLER
March 27, 2003

CORDELE -- The United States Constitution insures many rights to Americans. One of these is the right to counsel. On Wednesday a lawsuit was filed in the superior court of Crisp County claiming the Cordele Judicial Circuit indigent defense system is unconstitutional.

The Southern Center for Human Rights filed the suite maintaining that poor people charged with crimes in the Cordele Judicial Circuit, which represents Crisp, Dooly, Wilcox and Ben Hill counties, do not receive adequate legal representation from the lawyers who are appointed to represent them.

Very simply put, the lawsuit ask that the circuit change the indigent defense system. The changes should allow criminal defendants to receive legal representation that meets the standards set fourth in both the Unites States' and Georgia's Constitution.

"This is a significant piece of litigation, a lawsuit that is long overdue," said Prison & Jail Project director John Cole Vodicka. P&JP monitors courtrooms throughout southwest Georgia.

"Criminal defendants too poor to hire their own lawyers in Cordele, Vienna, Fitzgerald and Abbeville are forced to have lawyers appointed to represent them who are either incompetent and uncaring or who have an overwhelming indigent caseload," he said.

According to Cole Vodicka, the lawsuit was brought after P&JP and Southern Center investigators found hundreds of cases where defendants languished in jail for months without seeing their appointed lawyer, were encouraged by their lawyer to plead guilty to crimes they denied having committed, were made to speak to the district attorney's office before being appointed a lawyer and were sentenced to prison time without having been properly informed of their constitutional rights.

"The indigent defense system in the Cordele Judicial Circuit is a sham," Cole Vodicka said. "The lawyers know it, the DA's office knows it, the judges know it."

The lawsuit states the following:

Almost one half of all indigent people charged with crimes enter guilty pleas without consulting with a lawyer who represents their interests.

 

The Superior Court judges fail to warn unrepresented defendants of the dangers and disadvantages of self representation before entering a plea. In misdemeanor cases, judges do not advise indigent defendants that a lawyer will be provided for them if they cannot afford one.

 

In many instances, the district attorney speaks with unrepresented defendants and encourages them to negotiate a guilty plea directly with the DA without the assistance of counsel.

 

Poor people accused of crimes often languish in jail for weeks or months, while waiting to meet the overburdened contract lawyer appointed to defend them.

 

Those who bond out of jail often meet their appointed lawyer in court for the first time at an arraignment, talk for a few minutes and enter a guilty plea. Because of overwhelming caseloads, the contract lawyers often do not conduct an independent investigation of the charge and the client's background and circumstances, research legal issues, file motions or otherwise prepare for the case.

Cole Vodicka explained that indigent defense includes three major things. One, everyone is entitled to council. Two, the Georgia Bar Association and constitution call for lawyers to act responsible whether paid or not. Third, lawyers providing indigent defense need to get know the individual and be able to present something that might work to the client's benefit.

According to Cole Vodicka, there are 50 defendants listed in the lawsuit. Included are each county commission involved and Governor Sonny Perdue.

Ideally, the counties would get together and make a commitment to fund a full time public defender, who does nothing but that and doesn't have a private practice also, he said.

"The counties are poor and don't have the resources. The state needs to kick in big bucks," Cole Vodicka said.

When contacted, the District Attorney's office had no comment on the lawsuit. Both Judge John Pridgen and Judge Whitfield Forrester had no comment.

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