Federal judges have begun fielding requests from criminal defense lawyers to be taken off cases, or even have charges thrown out, after the judiciary ran out of money to pay certain attorneys who represent low-income defendants (article available here).
These panel attorneys, who are mostly solo practitioners or at small firms, are appointed by the court to represent defendants who can’t afford their own representation. However, funding to pay these attorneys—and reimburse them for expenses incurred while working on cases—dried up July 3, leaving these attorneys to cover their own costs for months, or longer.
Federal Defenders across the U.S. have also written letters to congressional appropriators asking for $116 million in supplemental funding to address the shortfall.
A criminal defense lawyer based in Seattle asked federal courts this month for permission to withdraw from two different pending cases, citing the suspension in payments. He also asked to withdraw from a separate case pending before the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, ahead of a scheduled oral argument in September.
Similarly, a Phoenix criminal defense lawyer asked an Arizona federal judge to dismiss the charges against his client over the payment suspension, or pause the case and release the client until funding is restored. The defense lawyer argued the payment freeze violated his client’s constitutional rights to counsel and to due process. He warned court-appointed experts may refuse to participate in, or withdraw from, cases if they aren’t paid.
The judge denied his request, finding the defendant hadn’t proved he had been harmed by the payment suspension. The Ninth Circuit on July 18 declined to intervene and halt the proceedings.