Public Defenders

Renowned Criminal Defense Lawyer Gary Proctor Commits Suicide

Updated: One of the high points of Gary Proctor’s life was represented by the quote he kept on his office wall from Harry Reasoner of 60 Minutes. It tagged Proctor the best criminal defense lawyer in Orange County, Calif.—as Reasoner also informed millions of viewers of the television news magazine’s…

Mar 10, 2008 11:59 PM CDT

Client Who Decked Counsel Sentenced to 6 Months

A disgruntled client who decked his appointed defense counsel last month got the new lawyer he was seeking … and more. Although public defender Doug Crickmer said at the time that he forgave Peter Hafer, the Kentucky judicial system apparently wasn’t ready to turn the other cheek. Hafer—whose punch to…

Mar 4, 2008 12:58 AM CST

Murder Defendant Sues Ga. Judge Over Change of Counsel

A defendant in a capital murder case who was represented for more than a year by private lawyers paid for by the state of Georgia has sued his trial judge for replacing the private attorneys with public defenders. Meanwhile, the salaried public defenders selected by Pike County Superior Court Judge…

Feb 11, 2008 8:56 PM CST

Banned Lawyer Gets Reprieve re Alleged Affair With Judge

The ban has been lifted against a Washington state lawyer ordered not to appear on behalf of indigent defendants at his local courthouse, after a judge reportedly blabbed about their alleged affair at a holiday party. Michael Morgan, the presiding judge, ended the ban this week, apparently in response to…

Feb 7, 2008 6:30 PM CST

Client Decks Counsel, Gets New Lawyer

An unhappy client punched his legal counsel in a Kentucky courtroom Monday, saying that he wanted new representation. And Scott Hafer got his wish after punching public defender Doug Crickmer in the jaw and sending him to the floor in an incident that was recorded by a courtroom camera in…

Feb 6, 2008 4:54 PM CST

Inmate’s Freedom Hinges on Lawyers’ Revelation That Dead Client Killed Guard in ‘82

Almost 26 years ago, as two Chicago public defenders were representing a client accused of murdering two police officers, their case suddenly got a lot tougher. A lawyer defending another man accused of murdering a security guard in an unrelated case told the two PDs that his client said that…

Jan 22, 2008 6:32 PM CST

Anti-Lethal Injection Lawyers Struggle on Way to and in High Court

A public defender who helped prepare the case against lethal injections argued yesterday took “a humble road” to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the headline in the Kentucky Herald-Leader. Public defender David Barron, who contends the state’s three-drug death cocktail is cruel and unusual punishment, “drove to Washington in…

Jan 8, 2008 11:39 AM CST

Assistant DA: No Cap on Protection Order Violations

A Minnesota public defender has asked a court to curb what she deemed an abuse of power by prosecutors who charged her client with 49 counts of violating an order of protection for allegedly calling his girlfriend from jail. Public defender Carol Weissenborn said the number of charges exaggerated and…

Jan 7, 2008 6:15 PM CST

New Defense Warning: Don’t Brush?

Don’t talk to police. Don’t talk to your cellmate. And, whatever you do, don’t brush your teeth. This could soon be standard advice from criminal defense lawyers to clients, if a recent Illinois evidentiary ruling is any indication. An accused rapist who refused to give a DNA sample has nonetheless…

Dec 18, 2007 5:26 PM CST

Conviction Overturned Because of Lawyer-Bashing Tape

The Oregon Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of a man who bashed his defense lawyer on a tape recording played at trial. The defendant, Roy Norman Knight, was convicted of sexually abusing his girlfriend’s teen daughter. Prosecutors played the tape to impeach Knight’s testimony about how much he wanted…

Dec 11, 2007 4:26 PM CST

Pay Cut for $2M Legal Aid Lawyers

Unlike their American counterparts, some British lawyers make a more-than-comfortable living as legal aid lawyers. Barristers reportedly can earn as much as a million pounds annually—that’s a little over $2 million in U.S. dollars—for defending complex criminal cases. But this cushy situation is about to change, as the Legal Services…

Dec 10, 2007 5:27 PM CST

No Jail Time for Loyola Law Prof Who Helped Client Find Counsel

A Louisiana appeals court has overturned a contempt finding by a state judge that would have required a law professor working with the Orleans Parish public defender’s office in New Orleans to serve a brief jail term and take a legal ethics course. Steve Singer, who is on leave from…

Dec 5, 2007 7:35 PM CST

Judge: Put Capital Appeals in Lower Calif. Courts; Lawyers: Pay Us More

In an effort to deal with a backlog of death penalty appeals and speed up the appellate process, the chief justice of the California Supreme Court is calling for a constitutional amendment to allow some of the appeals to be shifted to lower state courts. It now reportedly takes more…

Nov 21, 2007 7:57 PM CST

La. Criminal Defense Bar Draft Not a Hot Ticket for Lawyers

An attempt by a Louisiana judge to draft criminal defense lawyers to help out, on a pro bono basis, with a backlog of indigent cases was not an overwhelming success. Only 17 of the 33 lawyers notified last month that they should appear Friday in the courtroom of Orleans Parish…

Nov 19, 2007 7:52 PM CST

Lawyer Barred, Other Defense Issues as Khadr Military Trial Looms

As the terrorism trial by a U.S. military tribunal of a Canadian arrested in an Afghanistan battle at age 15 appears about to get under way, starting with an arraignment today, the defense is in apparent disarray. Dennis Edney, a Canadian attorney, is the lawyer chosen by Omar Khadr, now…

Nov 8, 2007 6:39 PM CST