POOR DRUG DEFENDANTS OFTEN CAN'T GET LAWYERS

It's Wednesday morning, and Andre N. Cooper is in Baltimore Circuit Court
facing 20 years in prison for felony drug charges. Prosecutors offer him a
plea bargain that would keep him out of jail.

He needs to think about it, he says. Where does the 30-year-old cook turn to
mull his future?

To his mother. There's no one else. He has no attorney and no hope of
getting one soon.

Cooper is one of 350 people charged with felony crimes in Baltimore that the
Office of Public Defender -- which provides attorneys for the poor -- says
it can't help. The office says it is too swamped to provide attorneys for
defendants in two drug courts, opened last spring to speed up processing for
the increased number of such cases.

The breakdown in this critical wing of Baltimore's criminal justice system
means charges in some of the cases could be dismissed because of violations
of the state's speedy trial rules. Such violations might begin imperiling
cases by the end of next month.

Cases also are taking longer to resolve as plea negotiations are put on hold
and trial dates are postponed. At stake, officials say, is nothing less than
the proper administration of justice. All defendants have the right to an
attorney by law.

"Someone needs to do something," said Judge Marcella A. Holland, who
presides over one of the courts that the public defender's office says it
can't staff. "It just keeps everything in a state of limbo."

There are days when all 30 defendants awaiting arraignment or trial in
Holland's courtroom have been told they can't get a public defender.

"It's a sad state of affairs," she said.

For Cooper, who has never been arrested on such serious charges, it's just
wrong. Arrested in July, he got a letter from the public defender's office
three weeks ago. The letter said that he qualified for a free attorney, but
his case "had been scheduled in a court that [the office is] unable to staff
at this time."

"We have a right to be defended," said the father of two who earns $8 an
hour working in a cafeteria. "It ain't fair."

All sides of the bench are scrambling to find ways to hire more public
defenders and get attorneys for defendants. Judges are asking attorneys if
they want to volunteer to take cases. And the prosecutors support efforts by
the public defender's office to secure more funding.

Officials from the public defender's office say that Baltimore needs 10 more
attorneys as well as support staff. Thirty-two attorneys handle all felony
trials.

"All the parties involved are working cooperatively to resolve the matter,"
said Ronald A. Karasic, deputy state public defender.

Michael Millemann, a law professor at the University of Maryland, said
historically the public defender's office has been underfunded.

Having an attorney "is viewed by many legislators as being a luxury,"
Millemann said. "The constituency is not one that anyone pays attention to.
It's the criminal constituency."

The problems started last May when Baltimore's chief judge added two drug
courts -- bringing the total to six -- because of an influx of cases into
the system. About 80 percent of the 5,000 defendants awaiting trial in
Circuit Court are charged with drug crimes, said Joseph H. H. Kaplan,
Baltimore's chief judge.

Public defenders began sending letters to defendants telling them that they
could not represent them. The letters urge defendants to seek private
counsel or ask the judge to appoint a private attorney for them.

Judge Joseph McCurdy said appointing attorneys is not as easy as it sounds.
The Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association rejected a plea for
volunteers this fall. It argued that private attorneys should not be held
accountable for politicians' efforts to look tough on crime by not approving
money for public defenders.

"You can't just go out and grab [attorneys] off the street," McCurdy said.
"I'm hopeful that the matter is going to be resolved, but at this time I
don't know how that is going to happen."

Yesterday, Cooper became one less case that officials have to worry about.
He pleaded guilty and received a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Checked-by: Don Beck