NEW ORLEANS PLANS FIRST CRIMINAL TRIALS SINCE KATRINA

Defendants' rights violated, lawyers say New Orleans plans to hold
its first criminal trial since Hurricane Katrina as soon as next
week, the first step in solving a judicial crisis in which thousands
of suspects have been jailed for months without trials.

Criminal District Court Chief Judge Calvin Johnson says courts will
reopen in the downtown courthouse, which was flooded after the Aug.
29 storm. He says 3,000 jury summonses have been mailed, and criminal
trials could resume soon after Memorial Day weekend. It's unclear who
will be tried or how they will be chosen.

The resumption of criminal trials would be a benchmark in New
Orleans' recovery, but defense lawyers warn the effort may stall
quickly. They say that Katrina ripped apart an already troubled
judicial system and that it's unclear whether defendants can get fair trials.

Johnson's plan is "extraordinarily optimistic," says Pamela Metzger
of the criminal law clinic at Tulane University. She says many of the
6,000 defendants awaiting trial in New Orleans are poor and their
right to have a court-appointed lawyer hasn't been met months after
their arrest.

New Orleans' civil courts, which handle disputes between parties and
do not rely on public defenders, have held a few trials without juries.

However, the criminal side of the court system has been in limbo. A
recent Justice Department report said justice is "unavailable" for
poor crime suspects in New Orleans. It said the public defender's
office needs 70 lawyers and more than $8 million. State officials and
the U.S. government are weighing plans to spend millions of dollars
to restore New Orleans' judiciary.

It won't be easy. Thirty-one of the 39 public defenders have been
laid off since Katrina. District Attorney Eddie Jordan and several
defense lawyers say 2,100 of those awaiting trial are in jails, many
without adequate legal representation.

Metzger and other lawyers have filed lawsuits demanding that jailed
suspects be tried or released. Criminal District Court Judge Arthur
Hunter has said thousands will have to be released if the state does
not come up with money for public defenders.

Jordan says the vast majority of the defendants who need lawyers face
drug charges, and about three dozen cases involve homicides.