South Carolina attorneys ask courts to halt prosecutions until State comes up with funding

The SCCID and the S.C. legislature believe that South Carolina's private bar are going to shoulder the burden of all appointed cases without compensation. Prosecutors are getting paid, judges are getting paid, and public defenders are getting paid - the only person standing in the courtroom that is expected to work without compensation is the private attorney who has been drafted into representing an indigent defendant.

Attorneys in Beaufort, Horry, and York Counties thus far have filed motions with the court requesting that prosecutions be halted and their clients released from jail until such time as the legislature provides funding for the defense of indigents in our state. This is not discretionary funding that can be set aside when times are hard - if we want to continue prosecuting defendants the state has a constitutional obligation to provide an effective defense for them.

The South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense voted late last month to stop paying court-appointed attorneys in non-capital criminal and civil cases, a decision that has angered many in the state's legal community.

Beaufort lawyer Jim Brown filed a motion in Beaufort County court Wednesday to halt prosecution of Alfonzo Howard, who faces eight felony counts and up to 150 years in prison if convicted. Brown was appointed to represent Howard in spring 2007.

Brown wants his client released on bond -- which was set at $1 million after his May 2006 arrest. He also wants Howard's trial, scheduled for February,postponed yet again. Brown argues that he can't adequately represent Howard if the state won't pay his legal fees.

"This conflict is a realization of the tension between Howard's needs for vigorous representation, involving hundreds of hours of work, and counsel's financial interests in maintaining a solvent solo practice," Brown wrote in his motion. "The current situation of certain non-payment of attorney fees guarantees that counsel will be deprived of any payment for his services, will foot the bill for his office overhead and will be forced to forgo other profitable compensation."

Fourteenth Circuit Deputy Solicitor Angela McCall-Tanner will try the case for the state and said she's sympathetic to the plight of state defense attorneys. However, "I can't stop prosecuting because the economy is in a rut," she said.
"I'm going to continue preparing for this case, and await the judge's ruling," she added. "I understand the argument of the defense attorneys, but I've got a job to do. My office has faced budget cuts, too, but I still have to prosecute."

Because she is getting paid to prosecute the case. What do you suppose Fourteenth Circuit Deputy Solicitor Angela McCall-Tanner's response would be if she was told she will no longer receive a paycheck? I have a suggestion - lets cut off all compensation to prosecutors and judges, and see how long it takes before the legislature finds the funds necessary to pay them.

State Sen. Tom Davis, an attorney with two court appointments in his caseload, said the legislature should prioritize spending in the face of slumping tax revenues.
"As an officer of the court, you've got an obligation to take on those appointments," he said. "We're in tight financial times, and quite frankly (paying court-appointed attorneys) is pretty far down on the list of priorities, behind health care and education and a host of other things.

"As members of the bar, we just have to take up that burden right now."

My office currently has 30 + appointed cases, several of which will be trials that may last a week or more. I know of at least one local attorney, who had contracted with our public defender office, who has 80 + appointed cases and has now been told she will receive 0 compensation for the time that she is investing in those cases. The reality is that in the most extreme cases, the conscription of appointed attorneys can result in the loss of their livelihood. No payment means that the doors close. When an attorney is in trial in a week long murder prosecution, they are not accepting paying clients or working on their paying clients' cases.

This is not the private bar's financial burden to bear. It is the responsibility of the government and the government alone to provide a defense for those who are indigent, if it chooses to prosecute them. The Courts have to step in and ensure that indigent defense is being funded, and the only way to do that may be by sending a message to the legislature that prosecutions will come to a halt until the funding is made available.

South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog

Published by Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Criminal & DUI Defense Lawyer | Crime Attorney Frederick Defense Firm