NEW STUDY MAKES CASE FOR PUBLIC DEFENDERS

RICHMOND -- Replacing court-appointed attorneys with a public defender's
office could give poor defendants better representation and save taxpayers
millions of dollars in cities such as Norfolk.

Those are the major findings of a study to be released today at the
Virginia State Crime Commission's meeting.

The study found significant differences between the two types of legal
representation for the poor, even when factors such as race, sex and
criminal record were factored out of the equation.

Researchers also computed that the state pays court-appointed attorneys in
Norfolk, on average, $326 for each criminal charge lodged against a
defendant. But using a public defender in the same case would cost $118 per
charge, according to the commission's findings.

Other costs, including start-up expenses for a public defender's office,
were not included in the analysis.

"I think this study answers many questions on people's minds about how we
provide this kind of defense," said Del. Thelma Drake, the Norfolk
Republican who pushed for the study. "Public defenders, according to this
study, give better representation and they're more cost-effective."

Drake estimated the possible cost savings in Norfolk at $1 million per year.

O.P. Pollard, executive director of the Virginia Public Defender
Commission, said he believes that each city and county should have a
public-defender system to match the level of skill and expertise in the
state's system of professional prosecutors.

"The quality is going to be more consistent," Pollard said.

Others questioned whether the study justifies dismantling the
court-appointed system statewide.

"Our list is staffed with some of the top criminal defense attorneys in the
city," said Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney John R. Doyle III, who did
court-appointed defense work before his election last year. "Our judges are
able to match the attorney's experience with the severity of the crime."

Andrew Protogyrou, a Norfolk private attorney who takes on court-appointed
work, said the city should consider opening a public defender's office only
if the lawyers are paid as much as prosecutors. In Norfolk, however, he
said the city supplements prosecutors' salaries, a funding mechanism not
available to public defenders.

The study found that indigent defendants served by a court-appointed
attorney for felony drug possession were likely to receive 2.5 years more
behind bars on average. Other types of crime, including murder, did not
show a difference when comparing the two types of lawyers.

The prison sentences also varied by location. Defendants with
court-appointed attorneys in the western part of the state around Lexington
receive almost six more years in prison than those with public defenders.
The same defendants in Norfolk and Chesapeake are sentenced to 2.3 more
years behind bars.

The findings will be reviewed by the commission's members before a full
report can be published.

Citing the study's initial conclusions, Drake said she plans to introduce a
bill creating public defender's office in Norfolk, a move that has been
opposed traditionally by the local bar associations.

The crime commission did not question whether to provide legal services for
the poor.

In a 1963 landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court found that all defendants
have a constitutional right to an attorney. The state spent $58.2 million
on such services during the fiscal year ending in June 2000 -- a 57 percent
increase over 1994.

Defendants must qualify for free legal services by reporting their income
to the judge overseeing their case. A defendant with no family to support,
for example, can make no more than $10,738 a year to qualify for an
attorney at no charge.

In 47 counties and cities, including Virginia Beach and Portsmouth, the
state pays public defenders to represent the poor full time.

But private attorneys take on indigent cases in the other jurisdictions,
including Norfolk and Chesapeake. They also take cases in areas with public
defenders if conflicts arise.

Judges usually maintain lists of available attorneys who submit time cards
for their indigent defense work. There are no statewide standards for
attorneys taking on court-appointed work.

Through the years, critics have blasted the state's pay scale for
court-appointed attorneys.

Most states allow judges to exceed, if necessary, the amount set for a
lawyer to represent a poor client. But Virginia caps its payments almost
without exception.

The total for a case in juvenile court, for example, is $112. For the most
serious adult crimes other than capital murder, a lawyer can receive not
more than $1,096.

Virginia's court-appointed attorneys are among the worst-paid in the nation.

"You drive out the most qualified attorneys when you keep rates so low,"
said Norman Lefstein, dean of the Indiana University School of Law in
Indianapolis and chairman of the American Bar Association's subcommittee on
indigent defense.

The commission's staff embarked on the study after the General Assembly
passed a resolution last year. The study sought to judge the quality of
legal representation for the poor in Virginia and examine the costs.

Public policy experts at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg
completed the commission's analysis of almost 19,000 felony and misdemeanor
cases concluded during one year ending in March 2001.

Hundreds of lawyers in the state, including every judge, public defender
and commonwealth's attorney, also were surveyed as part of the study.

The state's lawyers are divided over the issue of legal representation for
the poor. Only 32 percent of those surveyed believe that every city and
county should have public defender services, according to the study.
Slightly more than half believe the existing system should stay the same.

There were also limits to the study's scope. Researchers did not include
defendants acquitted of their charges and those who had their charges
dropped. Capital murder cases also were not reviewed.

The study's recommendations will include increasing the training
requirements for all publicly financed attorneys who represent the poor,
but will not push for a public-defender system statewide.

The study's numbers are already causing some in the legislature to rethink
their positions.

"I used to be skeptical about the public defender's office," said Del.
Kenneth R. Melvin, a commission member and Portsmouth Democrat who
practices law. "But when I see these numbers -- better representation for
less money -- I'm starting to think that this could be the right way to go."