News and Developments 2007: Costs

REPRESENTATION: Texas Creates its First Capital Case Public Defender's Office

Posted: December 19, 2007
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Lubbock criminal attorney Jack E. Stoffregen will head West Texas’ first public defender service devoted solely to capital cases. Centered in Lubbock County, a sparsely populated area that has few local criminal-defense attorneys with capital murder trial experience, the West Texas Regional Public Defender Office will handle the cases of indigent defendants who cannot afford an attorney. The office, with a budget of $2.5 million funded by Texas, is expected to alleviate some of the high costs death penalty cases can incur.

NEW VOICES: Veteran Police Officer Concludes 'death penalty is inefficient and extravagantly expensive'

Posted: November 21, 2007
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Norm Stamper, a 35-year veteran police officer from San Diego, recently wrote in The Mercury News that from his experience, "the death penalty is inefficient and extravagantly expensive.” Instead of spending millions of dollars on the death penalty, Stamper writes, “Spending scarce public resources on after-school programs, mental health care, drug and alcohol treatment, education, more crime labs and new technologies, or on hiring more police officers, would truly help create safer communities.”

Growing Costs Bring Some Capital Cases to a Halt

Posted: November 06, 2007
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With recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions underscoring the importance of defense counsel performance during capital trials, judges across the nation are struggling to balance the high costs of capital cases with the need for adequate representation. In Georgia, Judge Hilton M. Fuller Jr. has delayed the trial of Brian Nichols because the state public defender system has no money to pay for his attorneys and other expenses associated with his defense. Fuller said that it is pointless to proceed with the case because it is unconstitutional not to pay the defense.

Closing of the Capital Defender Office Will Save the State Millions as New York's Death Penalty Ends

Posted: October 30, 2007
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New York's Capital Defender Office is preparing to close its doors in the wake of a N.Y. Court of Appeals ruling that disposed of the final appeal of a death sentence under the capital punishment law declared unconstitutional in 2004. "It is . . . my intention to close the office as soon as practically possible," said Kevin M. Doyle, who has served as Executive Director of the defender office established in 1995.

New Mexico Supreme Court Stops Death Penalty Trial Over Funding Issue

Posted: October 29, 2007
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The New Mexico Supreme Court halted a death penalty case against 2 prison inmates charged with killing a guard during a 1999 riot because the defense has received insufficient funding to proceed. "Defense counsels' compensation is inadequate under the facts of this case, violating defendants' Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel," the court said in a unanimous ruling. The court held that an additional $200,000 must be appropriated by the legislature before the case can move ahead.

Death Penalty Prosecution Endangers Indigent Defense System in Georgia

Posted: October 19, 2007
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A shortage of state funds to pay defense attorneys, experts, and investigators has brought jury selection in the trial of Brian Nichols in Georgia to a halt. Superior Court Judge Hilton M. Fuller (pictured), Jr. stopped jury selection after just two days due to concerns that Nichols' defense team did not have adequate funding to represent their client. His ruling came in response to a defense motion that noted, "[A]t this time, and for some period of time in the past, no defense experts have been engaged in ongoing efforts on this case. . . .