July 17 TEXAS: County debate centers on need for public defender office A state grant promising start-up costs for a public defender's office has officials considering an overhaul of Lubbock County's system for providing lawyers to the poor. Rising expenses for indigent defense concern county commissioners and judges, who say they must balance justice and fiscal responsibility. "If the public defender's office is a cost-effective way to deliver court-appointed services, the county must take a hard look at it," County Court-at-Law Judge Rusty Ladd said. But private attorneys paid by the county to represent indigent defendants worry that such an office would be underfunded and overworked. "We have no problem with the concept of a public defender's office," attorney Chuck Lanehart said. "We question whether a public defender's office is necessary in Lubbock County, can be operated efficiently and cost-effectively and provide effective assistance of counsel." A 1963 Supreme Court ruling requires states to provide lawyers to the poor, and counties pay 90 percent of those expenses in Texas. Only seven of Texas' 254 counties use public defender offices to provide indigent defense. The rest, including Lubbock, pay private attorneys appointed by the courts. Lubbock County's payments to court-appointed attorneys nearly doubled from 1999 to 2003, according to information provided by the County Auditor's Office. Budget predictability and potential cost cuts make a public defender's office attractive, officials say. "It's our duty as elected officials to do what's right for the citizens," County Court-at-Law Judge Drue Farmer said. "I don't know of any of the judges who are dead set one way or the other. We don't have all the facts." The county Board of Judges held an informational meeting on the topic Friday, inviting officials with the state Task Force on Indigent Defense to discuss its "Blueprint for Creating a Public Defender Office in Texas," a step-by-step guide for counties. "This is a tool," said James Bethke, task force director. "It's not an advocacy piece for or against it." The task force plans to offer $1.7 million in grants to counties that establish public defender offices. Grants would cover up to 80 % of expenses the 1st year and decrease by 20 % each of the next 3 years. "Providing start-up costs, that's where we're taking the financial risks off the counties," Bethke said. Lubbock County spent $2.1 million for court-appointed attorneys in fiscal year 2003, according to the County Auditor's Office. After Friday's meeting, officials said that figure may actually include investigative expenses, appointed special prosecutors and visiting judges' salaries. Lanehart said his analysis puts court-appointed attorney payments closer to $1.6 million. Based on preliminary calculations by the task force, a public defender's office handling 50 % of the county's indigent cases would cost $956,687 per year to operate. Factoring payments to private attorneys hired to represent the remaining 50 % of indigent defendants, the county would save $95,627. But that savings is based on $2.1 million in expenses, which may be inaccurate. "We need to do a lot more investigating on our numbers," District Judge Brad Underwood said. Initiating a public defender's office does not eliminate the need for private appointed attorneys. Among co-defendants, only one can be represented by the public defender. And the office might not include attorneys qualified for specialized cases, such as mental health issues and capital murders. "Public defender offices don't displace the private bar," Bethke said. The 2 largest counties operating public defender offices in Texas - El Paso and Dallas - assign about 50 percent of the indigent cases to their offices. The creation of El Paso's office in 1987 directly resulted from a lawsuit by jail inmates who claimed they were incarcerated too long without getting lawyers. The 17-attorney office cost $1.3 million to operate in 1999. A state comptroller's report on the office issued the same year recommended increasing the office's staff and caseload, which could save the county $1.24 million in payments to private attorneys. Bethke said the El Paso public defender's office has an excellent reputation. But Fred Stangl, president of the Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said his group fears a Lubbock office might not reach the same level. The suggested average salary for attorneys - $50,000 - and the projected annual caseload - 400 misdemeanors or 150 felonies - could deter applicants, he said. "The really good experienced lawyers, which are needed in court-appointed cases, are not going to give up their practice to go work at the public defender's office," Stangl said. "We anticipate a drop in the quality of representation." But the county's judges expressed no qualms about the capabilities of public defenders to do the work. "We've got lawyers here, whether they're hired or appointed, they go after a case with the same zealousness," District Judge Cecil Puryear said. "I don't think the quality of representation is any less" with a public defender. County commissioners ultimately will decide whether to form a public defender's office, but Bethke said support from the judges, private attorneys and prosecutors is essential to success. Underwood said further investigation is needed before deciding if Lubbock County should pursue an office and the grant. The grant application deadline is Oct. 20. (source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal) VIRGINIA----new execution date VADP Execution Alert----Execution Date Set for James Hudson - August 18, 2004 The Commonwealth of Virginia has set an execution date of August 18, 2004 for James Hudson. Hudson will be the second death row inmate to be executed this year after deciding not to seek available appeals. (Brian Lee Cherrix, who was executed on March 18, 2004, also had appeals that could have been filed.) In 2003, Hudson plead guilty to one count of capital murder and one 1st-degree murder charge in the deaths of brothers Walker Stanley Cole and Thomas Wesley Cole, and Thomas Coles' wife Patsy Ayers Cole. All 3 were killed on July 4, 2002 from shotgun blasts at close range. The murders were attributed to long standing animosity between Hudson and the Cole family who were his neighbors. Judge Les Osborn sentenced Hudson to death after 60 victim-impact statements, regarding the pain caused to individuals and the community by the murders, were submitted to the court. Public Defender Buddy Ward, at Hudson's request, declined to argue that his client's life should be spared and presented no witnesses. Hudson has since refused to file available State and Federal appeals. Hudson does not plan to seek clemency from Governor Warner. We respect Mr. Hudson's decision not to seek clemency, but we still do not agree with his execution. Mr. Hudson's decision to take his own life makes this execution an example of state assisted suicide, and we do not believe that the state should play a role in facilitating suicide. We encourage VADP members and other to sign our online petition to Governor Warner calling for a Moratorium on executions before Mr. Hudson's scheduled execution date of August 18, 2004. (source: VADP) ALABAMA: AG requests execution date for Centobie Mario Centobie, who confessed to killing a Moody police officer, is set to move a step closer to the fulfillment of his sentence as Alabama Attorney General Troy King filed a motion requesting an execution date be set. The motion, filed July 12, shows that Centobie has declined to pursue any further appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after his conviction and sentencing were upheld in Alabama courts. The deadlines for other appeals have already passed. Centobie was sentenced to death in 1999 for the June 27, 1998, murder officer Keith Turner. He was also sentenced to 3 life sentences for the wounding of a Tuscaloosa police officer. "Officer Turner was honoring his oath to serve and protect the citizens of Moody when he was murdered in cold blood," King said in a press release earlier this week. Centobie and Jeremy Granberry escaped custody June 25, 1998, while being transported from Parchman Prison in Mississippi to a court hearing. They stole a sheriff's deputy patrol car and handgun and headed toward Tuscaloosa, where they were stopped on Interstate 359 by Tuscaloosa police Capt. Cecil Lancaster. After Lancaster was shot twice by the suspects, he was able to return fire, preventing them from running him down with the stolen car. After stealing another car, the 2 continued on Interstate 20 until they reached the Moody exit. At approximately 10:29 p.m. June 27, 1998, Turner stopped to check a suspicious vehicle. After speaking with Turner, Centobie reached back into the car as if to retrieve his drivers license. Instead, he pulled out the deputy's stolen handgun and shot Turner three times - one bullet hit his bullet resistant vest, another entered his hip, and the last went into the back of his head. Turner died instantly. Former Moody police officer Chris Long was working patrol that same night and heard Turner tell his dispatcher where he was and that he was checking a suspicious vehicle. "I was only a few seconds away," Long recalled in a previous interview. "I heard the shots. In just a few seconds your whole world can turn upside down." Long, who now works for the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, remembers every minute detail of that night and has not previously spoken publicly about them. He has shared his experience with other officers to impress upon them how fast things can go wrong and how bad a situation can get in a short time. "I was a half-a-mile from Keith that night when I heard him on the radio," Long said. "In 39 seconds Keith released his radio mike, was shot, and I began to exchange gunfire with the suspect. That's all - 39 seconds." Long said he is pleased to hear that King has finally requested an execution date for Turner's murderer. "It's sooner than I expected," he said. "But I'm glad to see them finally doing it." Moody Police Chief John Kile was the shift supervisor the night Turner was killed and he also said he is glad to see the tale coming to an end. "I'm glad to see the day coming," Kile said. "I thought I'd be an old man before his execution would be set. I'm truly glad the state is stepping up and pressing ahead with an execution date." For eight days after Turner's murder, more than 750 lawmen from across the country descended upon the small community in one of the largest manhunts in history. Granberry was quickly found, still in the Moody area. He was convicted of capital murder in 1999 and sentenced to life without parole. Centobie was not captured until July 5, 1998, near Biloxi, Miss. He was still carrying the gun used to kill Turner. He now sits on Donaldson Correctional Facility's death row awaiting the date he will die. "Justice cries out to be served, certain and swift. It is time for Mario Centobie to receive the justice he has so viciously earned," King said. (source: The Daily Home) OKLAHOMA: Convicted Killer Brenda Andrew Sentenced To Death In Murder of Husband-- Prosecution Portrays Accused Killer As Anything But Meek, Mild In Oklahoma City, a jury has sentenced Brenda Andrew to death in the shotgun slaying of her estranged husband. The 7-man, 5-woman jury recommended the death sentence this afternoon, after convicting her on Tuesday of 1st-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors contend Andrew and her lover, James Pavatt, conspired to kill her husband, Rob Andrew, to collect his 800-thousand-dollar life insurance policy. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Pennsylvania Governor Rendell Signs Execution Warrant Pennsylvania Governor Edward G.Rendell today signed a warrant for the execution by lethal injection of Isaac Mitchell of Philadelphia. Governor Rendell set Mitchell's execution for Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004. In March 1999, Mitchell was convicted and sentenced to die for the shooting deaths of 2 innocent bystanders, 22-year-old Jamika Wright and 21-year-old Derrick Washington, following an argument between his son and a friend over a basketball game. Mitchell was formally sentenced to death on June 28, 2000. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed that judgment on Dec. 30, 2003. Mitchell, 53, is a prisoner at the State Correctional Institution at Greene. Governor Rendell has now signed 19 death warrants. CONTACT: Abraham Amoros of the Pennsylvania Office of the Governor, +1-717-783-1116 (source: Pennsylvania Office of the Governor)
