MI- Report: Michigan fails to defend poor suspects

6-18-2008 Michigan:

LANSING -- Michigan is violating the U.S. Constitution by failing to provide competent legal representation to criminal defendants who cannot afford a lawyer, a new study says.

The year-long report being released Tuesday was requested by the state Legislature and evaluated public defense systems in 10 sample Michigan counties. It found that none are constitutionally adequate.

The study's authors said many of today's problems are the same as they were 75 years ago.

Defense lawyers are being appointed to cases for which they are not qualified. They are underpaid and do not have sufficient time, training, investigators, experts and resources to prepare cases.

Forty-three states spend more per capita on indigent defense than Michigan. Michigan also is among a minority of states to make county governments -- not state government -- pay for public defenders at the trial level.

Counties most in need of indigent defense services often are the ones that least can afford to pay for it, according to the report conducted by the National Legal Aid & Defender Association in conjunction with the State Bar of Michigan.

Many counties are controlling costs with low-bid, flat-fee contracts in which attorneys accept cases for a predetermined fee. That causes a conflict of interest between their duty to competently defend their clients and a financial self-interest to invest less time on cases to maximize profits, the study found.

"The majority of people requiring appointed counsel are simply the unemployed or underemployed -- the son of a co-worker, the former classmate who lost her job or the member of your congregation living paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet," the report's authors wrote in the executive summary.

Another key finding: Poor defendants accused of misdemeanors routinely are processed through the justice system without ever speaking to a lawyer.

"District courts across the state are prioritizing speed, revenue generation and non-valid waivers of counsel over the due process protections afford by the United States Constitution," according to the study. ..News Source.. by David Eggert