Expert Services

At the invitation of Senator Stewart Greenleaf, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, 6AC Executive Director David Carroll testifies at a joint hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary Committee regarding funding of indigent defense representation, as the Senators consider a wide array of criminal justice reform issues.

Executive Director David Carroll updates the commission on the on-going evaluation of indigent defense representation in rural Nevada. As part of the evaluation, the commission selected five of the state’s 15 rural counties for in-depth study through on-site interviews and court observations: Elko, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon, and Nye counties.

At the invitation of the House and Senate co-chairs, Executive Director David Carroll and Counsel Mike Tartaglia assist the committee in understanding constitutional requirements for providing legal representation to indigent people, including national standards addressing independence of the defense function, as the committee debates restructuring the Maine Commission of Indigent Legal Services.

Executive Director David Carroll discusses the findings and recommendations from the 6Ac’s forthcoming statewide evaluation of adult felony indigent defense services.

Executive Director David Carroll continues work with the Task Force members as they develop recommendations to improve the state’s oversight of Sixth Amendment right to counsel services.

For the inaugural meeting of the commission, 6AC Executive Director David Carroll explains Nevada’s unique right to counsel history, the known current deficiencies in providing indigent defense representation in rural counties, and a research plan to objectively document and evaluate indigent defense in rural Nevada.

Executive Director David Carroll speaks about supervision and quality control in systems that use contracts to provide representation to indigent defendants, at the annual seminar sponsored by the Oregon Public Defense Services Commission and the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association. He also addresses a meeting of the statewide Public Defender Services Commission to explain the current state of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in America.

Executive Director David Carroll joins Indiana Public Media Reporter Barbara Brosher, Indiana Public Defender Counsel Vice Chair David Shircliff, and Marion County Public Defender Agency Chief Counsel Ann Sutton to discuss Indiana’s failure to ensure effective representation for all people of limited means who face the potential loss of liberty in criminal or delinquency proceedings. The live radio discussion is part of Indiana Public Media’s in-depth investigation into the public defender system in Indiana, “Justice For All?” – a three-part series in print, radio, and television.

Executive Director David Carroll speaks at the annual conference of the National Criminal Justice Association, a membership organization of criminal and juvenile justice stakeholders and policymakers. Joining him in a panel presentation are Maha Jweid (Acting Director, Access to Justice), Genevieve Citrin (American University, Justice Program Office), and Jack Cutrone (NCJA). In their presentation “Securing Sixth Amendment Rights,” they discuss the technical assistance and training available through the U.S. Department of Justice and the partnerships it enables.

Wisconsin pays attorneys only $40 per hour to defend the indigent accused. This is the lowest compensation rate in the country and has not changed in 20 years, since 1995 when the Wisconsin legislature reduced the rate from $50 per hour. David Carroll presents evidence from the 6AC report, Justice Shortchanged, showing that the constitutional imperative for independent, conflict-free public defense services has given way to fiscal considerations, at a press conference announcing the Wisconsin State Bar Association and Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ petition to the state Supreme Court to raise the hourly compensation rates and ban flat-fee contracts.

Independence is the first of the ABA’s Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System, yet in the state of Washington this principle is not officially contained in the state’s Standards for Public Defense Services. 6AC Executive Director David Carroll, along with Bob Boruchowitz of the Defender Initiative at Seattle University School of Law, explains how best to create and preserve the independence needed to insulate public defense systems and attorneys from inappropriate interference by governmental bodies and other justice system participants. Topics focus on ethical, structural, and managerial considerations to ensure that the administration of justice is not compromised by disadvantaged public defense systems.

David Carroll discusses the ways in which systemic indigent defense deficiencies contribute to wrongful convictions. Special emphasis is placed on undue political and judicial interference and the use of United States v. Cronic to get at how systemic deficiencies prevent even the best lawyers from providing constitutionally effective right to counsel services.