Defendants freed due to lack of court-appointed lawyers.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 at 03:27PM
TheSpook
Three men locked up for serious gun and drug charges yesterday became
the first defendants freed because the courts have been unable to
appoint lawyers for them. "This is a sad day for the commonwealth,''
said Hampden County District Attorney James Orenstein. "We're very
concerned about public safety in the days coming up.'' Citing
constitutional rights violations, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled on
July 28 that defendants must be released if they are held seven or more
days without a lawyer. Their cases must be dismissed if they still
don't have a lawyer 45 days after their initial arraignment. The crisis
arises out of the refusal of bar advocates - private lawyers who
previously took court-appointed clients - to accept new cases in
protest of state-set pay rates. Lawyers say the rates are the third
lowest in the nation. The lack of willing defense lawyers has been
accute in Hampden County, but also is being felt in Boston and across
the state, especially after the legislature approved a $7.50-an-hour
raise that many attorneys felt was insulting. The lawyers say the
current rates - $30-an-hour for District Court work, $39-an-hour for
Superior Court work and $54-an-hour for murder cases - do not cover
their costs of maintaining solvent law practices. [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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