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| December 23, 2008 |
By: Bud Newman |
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he Miami-Dade public defender is warning that a “constitutional crisis” is brewing as budget cuts and staff attrition exacerbate an already bad lawyer shortage, preventing the office from adequately representing many indigent defendants.
In a letter to Miami-Dade Chief Judge Joseph Farina, Public Defender Bennett Brummer and Public Defender-elect Carlos Martinez said they plan to file notices with judges and clients about the deteriorating situation and suggest clients look for other legal counsel.
The notices are designed “to provide our clients with sufficient information to enable them to make informed decisions, including whether they desire the court to provide alternative counsel,” the letter said.
“We intend to take this action as soon as we can prepare the necessary pleadings and otherwise establish the necessary logistical foundation,” it said. “Our practical, professional and ethical problems are real, immediate and of overwhelming magnitude,” the letter said, adding that conditions in the office “have deteriorated at an accelerated rate.”
Brummer won a court order in September allowing the office to withdraw from minor felony cases, but there has been no relief because the order was stayed by the 3rd District Court of Appeal.
Brummer, Martinez and Farina did not return calls seeking comment before deadline Monday.
The departures of many staff attorneys and lower starting salaries because of state budget cuts mean the office will be “unable to fulfill our statutory, ethical and constitutional obligations” to the court and its clients, the letter said.
Brummer’s office had 105 staff attorneys, including supervisors and new attorneys in training, last spring when he sued for relief. Those attorneys handled an average 436 cases each. Since then, 28 trial attorneys have left — double the office’s normal attrition rate — driving up the average caseload by 15 percent to 502.
“These figures exceed by multiple times any recognized maximum caseload standard,” the letter noted.
The office cannot get relief from its county court attorneys, whose average caseload is 2,000, or juvenile court attorneys, who are carrying 382 cases each, Brummer and Martinez wrote.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sanford Blake’s ruling in September meant public defenders could reject about 11,000 felony cases a year. The order was stayed by the 3rd District Court of Appeal, and no decision is expected until at least late March.
“We believe that the stay requires us to continue to accept cases that we would have been excused from accepting under Judge Blake’s order,” the letter said. But that “does nothing to change the fact that this office, due to inadequate resources, lacks the capacity to represent all of our clients in an ethical, professional and constitutional manner.”
The office “is not in a fiscal position to replace attorneys who resign,” the letter said. The starting salary for attorneys has been cut under a 4 percent budget holdback imposed by Gov. Charlie Crist, and additional justice system cuts are expected when the Legislature deals with a projected $2.3 billion budget deficit at a special session in January.
Some changes have been made to help ease the staff crunch, the letter said. Calendar appearances have been streamlined in county court and domestic violence divisions, and the state attorney’s office is helping address discovery delays and identify cases eligible for diversion early in the process.
But problems persist with client meetings, case investigations, witness interviews and taking depositions.
With the appeal pending and budgets uncertain, “We cannot predict when we will be able to adequately handle the full case-load,” the letter said.
Bud Newman can be reached at (561) 820-2075.
Bennett Brummer photo by A.M. Holt |
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