Bills To Change Public Defender Law Advance
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Measures advanced in both the House and Senate Tuesday that would repeal a Maryland law requiring that poor defendants have a public defender present when district court commissioners are setting their bail.
The state Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year that poor defendants must have an attorney at such bail proceedings unless they waive representation. If lawmakers don't change the law, the Office of the Public Defender estimated it would cost about $28 million a year to comply with the court ruling. The cost could be equally high for prosecutors, who also would need to be present.
"The Court of Appeals decision by itself is a big-ticket item," said Sen. Brian Frosh, D-Montgomery. "We're saving tens of millions of dollars off of that ticket."
The Senate bill has been changed to clarify that a defendant who is denied release by a commissioner would have to go before a district court judge either immediately or at the next session of the court if it adjourned.
The bill also clarifies that a defendant may not remain in custody more than 48 hours without being presented to a district court judge. The change was made to address conditions faced by defendants who are detained at the start of a weekend, or holiday weekend, when courts are closed.
"Otherwise you run the risk of people being locked up for four nights or five nights on a holiday weekend without having an attorney and without getting in front of a judge," Frosh said.
The change means judges may have to work on weekends. The measure in the House would not require judges to work weekends.
"In big jurisdictions, it means maybe a couple of times a year you're going to work Saturday or work Sunday," Frosh said, explaining the provision in the Senate bill. "In the smaller jurisdictions, what we expect and hope is that they'll get retired judges -- district court, circuit court judges -- to step in for an hour or two."
A key component of the legislation would divert thousands of defendants from the court system by issuing citations to people charged with offenses that carry less than a 90-day jail term, so that they won't have to go before a court commissioner. That means if someone was charged with simple possession of marijuana, for instance, that person would not be detained. By making that change, the measure would alleviate immediate pressure on the public defender's office. The defendant still would have to go to court and would still have access to a public defender at that time.
"We save money by having fewer people in jail, fewer people cranking through that early stage of the process," Frosh said.
Doug Colbert is a University of Maryland School of Law professor who has spoken out against decisions regarding a person's liberty being made without an attorney present for more than a decade along with his students. He described moving to citations in place of incarceration as a step in the right direction. However, Colbert, who has worked with Baltimore's Venable law firm in the court case, said he still opposed not requiring that defendants have legal counsel at the district court commissioner appearance.
Frosh said lawmakers are moving quickly to get the legislation to Gov. Martin O'Malley's desk before the court ruling takes effect. The Senate and House of Delegates are expected to take final votes on their respective bills later this week. Because the measures were filed as emergency legislation, the changes would take effect as soon as O'Malley signs them into law.
"We want to get it done and on the governor's desk as fast as we possibly can," Frosh said.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
