Louisiana

Indigent Defense Assistance Board

Minutes of the Board Meeting

14 February 2000

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Adams & Reese Law Firm

Members Present: Risley C. Triche, Chair; Thomas A. Casey, Vice-Chair; Michelle Ghetti; Addison K. Goff, IV (by phone); Robert McLeod (by phone); and Donald Phelps.

Ex Officio Members Present: James Boren; Anthony Champagne; and Henry Walker (by phone).

Staff Present: Jelpi P. Picou, Jr.

Guests Present: Frank Zaccaria; Craig Colwart; G. Paul Marx; Ken Rodenbeck; and George Steimel.

Call to Order and Opening Remarks. The meeting was called to order at 10:21 a.m. by the Chair, who welcomed members to the meeting of the Indigent Defense Assistance Board; roll call demonstrated that a quorum was present.

Review of Minutes of 14 January 2000 Meeting. Upon the motion of Mr. Phelps, seconded by Mr. Casey, a reading of the minutes of the previous meeting was waived and they were accepted, without objection, as accurate.

Post-Conviction Update. At the request of the Chair, Mr. Boren gave the Board an update on a meeting he and Mr. Triche had with Bernard Boudreaux of the Governor’s Office. Mr. Boren noted that given the current budget outlook there would be very little chance of the LIDAB receiving an increase in its funding despite the mandate to cover the costs of capital appeals and post-conviction. Mr. Boudreaux did voice support, in principle, for an increase in court costs for the district indigent defender boards to help in weathering the budget problems. Mr. Triche added that the Board did not support any position that would require a portion of the court costs to be forwarded to the state Board.

Mr. Marx, who was asked to speak on this issue, noted that the Louisiana Public Defenders Association was concerned over the drop in District Assistance Funding and wanted assurances that a portion of the LIDAB’s funding would be dedicated to this fund. He noted that a meeting of that organization the previous Friday had concluded that it would request either a mandated portion of the budget or move to repeal the mandate requiring the appointment of counsel in capital post-conviction proceedings.

The staff and Mr. Casey then updated the Board on a meeting they had with the Division of Administration and the prospect of having that agency approach the Governor’s Office with a recommendation that court costs be raised and made non-waivable in order to increase funding for the defense system. The staff noted that it had provided the Division with requested documents and had later forwarded those documents to the Governor’s Office.

Mr. Phelps called the Board’s attention to the inequities in funding which would continue in the event of a court cost increase and Ms. Ghetti echoed this concern by asking whether the smaller districts—which would not receive much increase in funding from such a legislative change—had a position different from the LAPDA.

At the request of Mr. Boren, the Chair clarified the Board’s previous resolution calling for funding of post-conviction cases on an emergency basis only and directed the staff to file a request with the Interim Emergency Board as soon as possible. At the request of Mr. Phelps, the staff noted that it would circulate a copy of that request to the members for comment prior to its being filed.

LSBA Resolution on a Moratorium. The Chair turned the Board’s attention to the resolution passed by the Louisiana State Bar Association calling for a moratorium on the imposition of the death penalty and asked whether the Board needed, at this time, to take any action on this resolution. Ms. Ghetti noted that it has presented an opportunity to the Board to publicize the issues of representation for death row inmates and the overall funding issues facing the indigent defense system. Mr. Phelps cautioned that the Board should not act too quickly given the Governor’s present position that no moratorium is necessary at this time. Mr. McLeod voiced an opinion that while this may not be the time to act, the Board should continue to view the moratorium as a means of addressing the present crisis the Board is facing. It was generally agreed that the moratorium should be placed on the next meeting’s agenda for further discussion.

Technical Assistance Review. At the direction of the Chair, the staff gave a brief overview of the educational portion of the Technical Assistance Program, noting that the Board reserved approximately $70,000.00 to defray the expenses of continuing legal education for public defenders involved in the defense of capital cases. Upon questioning of the Chair, both Mr. Boren and Mr. Marx commented that the program was useful and served the purposes for which it was established. Both also noted that this program should be continued. Ms. Ghetti opined that continuing legal education was only one part of the certification program and that, while not a perfect system, it was a valuable part of the Board’s work. Mr. Phelps further stated that continuing legal education alone could not achieve the goal of a better defense bar and recommended that the Board look to other mechanisms for accountability in this area. The Board generally agreed with the remarks of Ms. Ghetti and Mr. Phelps.

Other Business. At the request of the chair, the next meeting of the Board was called for Friday, March 17, 2000 at the Adams & Reese Law Firm in Baton Rouge. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.

Adjournment. There being no additional business brought to the attention of the Board, the Chair entertained a motion to adjourn, which was seconded and passed without objection.