-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- http://www.ohio.com/bj/news/ohio/docs/034303.htm Posted at 5:22 p.m. EST Wednesday, January 26, 2000 Court criticizes Ohio public defender's office BY JOHN NOLAN Associated Press Writer CINCINNATI (AP) -- A federal appeals court criticized the Ohio public defender's office Wednesday for slipshod representation of criminal defendants in some cases. Three judges of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals commented as they ordered a lower court to reconsider the appeal of a man who was sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 slaying of his former wife as she left work in the Cleveland area. The case now goes back to U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan in Cleveland. Appeals Judges Martha Craig Daughtrey, Damon Keith and Karen Moore said a lawyer in the state public defender's office took three years to file a complaint alleging that Frederick White's constitutional right to effective legal representation had been violated. The public defender's office accepted White's case in 1991 but didn't file the claim until 1994. White, who was convicted of aggravated murder and felonious assault, said his former lawyer failed to make state appeals courts aware of details supporting his claim that he is innocent. White told the trial jury he was in Columbus, and had been with other people, when his former wife, Kimberly Hawkins White, was killed Nov. 5, 1988. She was shot as she and a co-worker left the Mount St. Joseph Nursing Home in the Cleveland suburb of Euclid. According to prosecution testimony, Ms. White told others that her former husband was the person who shot her. The co-worker -- who had stepped into a van just before Ms. White was shot -- at first said she had not seen the attacker. But the co-worker later picked out a photograph of Frederick White from among five pictures and identified him as the shooter. Ms. Daughtrey wrote that in this case and at least one other, delays by the public defender's office in filing appeals cost criminal defendants opportunities to fight their convictions. She wrote that was due to the office's ``disregard, whether intentional or because of inadequate funding and staffing, of filing deadlines and procedural barriers.'' David Bodiker, the Ohio public defender, said Wednesday he was embarrassed by the criticism. Bodiker acknowledged that his agency had been guilty of such delays in some cases before he became head of the office in 1994. He said it is no longer a problem because the office staff tackled a backlog of cases, is filing more promptly and is being more selective about accepting claims presented by Ohio inmates. ``I suppose those comments are well-deserved. In fairness, I think things have changed,'' Bodiker said. ``I came here in '94. I think that since then, we have not had any occasions of this sort of thing.'' His office, funded by the Legislature, decides which claims it will handle from any of Ohio's 46,500 state prisoners. The office has 15 lawyers who handle death-penalty appeals and about 25 other attorneys to handle all other claims, Bodiker said. The Ohio attorney general disagrees with the 6th Circuit ruling and is considering whether to appeal further, said Sharon McClellan, the attorney general's director of criminal justice. -- ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
