Louisiana

Indigent Defense Assistance Board

Minutes of the Board Meeting

July 31, 2001

New Orleans, Louisiana

Stone Pigman Law Firm

Members Present: Frank DeSalvo, Acting Chair; Alfred Boustany; John DiGiulio; Cameron Gamble; Michelle Ghetti; Wayne Lee; and Donald T. W. Phelps.

Ex Officio Members Present: None

Staff Present: Edward R. Greenlee; Marsha Austtun Oliver; and April Petry.

Guests Present: Jim Looney.

Call to Order and Opening Remarks. The meeting was called to order at 1:20 p.m. by the Chair. Ms. Oliver called the roll; a quorum was present. The Chair gave an overview of the agenda.

Review and Adoption of Minutes of the Last Meeting. The minutes of the previous meeting on June 22, 2001 were read. Mr. Lee moved that the minutes be adopted. Mr. DeSalvo seconded the motion, which passed without objection.

Proposed Regional Conflict Panel. Mr. Greenlee presented a proposal for 4 regional capital conflict panels to handle capital cases where a conflict of interest existed and where no certified counsel were available for representation of indigents in rural areas of the state. The regions will include Southwest Louisiana, North Louisiana, Baton Rouge area and New Orleans area. In order to implement this plan, the Board would need to hire supervisors to open offices for 3 of the 4 regions. The Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center, already on contract to handle conflict cases across the state, will serve as one of the regional offices.

Ex-Officio member, James Boren, was not able to be present at this meeting. Mr. Boren sent a letter to Mr. Triche and Mr. Greenlee indicating his support for the Regional Conflict Panels. Mr. Boren added that his only concerns regarding this program were why Lafayette and Rapides Parishes were not included; making certain that conflict panels’ attorney caseloads were limited to an ethically appropriate amount; and whether or not the conflict panel attorneys would be allowed to maintain any type of private practice.

Mr. Greenlee advised the Board that Lafayette and Rapides Parishes hired attorneys on a contract basis, and therefore, did not have ethical conflict issues that the indigent defender boards with full-time employed attorneys did. After board members discussed limiting caseloads, distribution of attorneys, and lack of certified counsel in some areas of the state, Mr. DiGiulio voted to approve the implementation of the Regional Capital Conflict program and begin advertising for applicants for the 3 Director positions. Mr. Lee seconded the motion, which passed without opposition.

Mr. DeSalvo, as acting chair, appointed board members to serve on search committees to evaluate applicants for each of the 3 regional conflict offices. Appointed were Addison Goff, Henry Walker and Tony Champagne for the North Louisiana region; Jim Boren, John DiGiulio and Tony Champage for the Baton Rouge region; and Wayne Lee, Cameron Gamble and Frank DeSalvo for the New Orleans region.

Other Business.

Statistics/Case Counting. Mr. Greenlee addressed the need for more timely, accurate and complete statistics supplied by the local boards. Several of the local boards do not supply monthly caseload reports. Mr. Greenlee proposed dividing the District Assistance Fund (DAF) distributions into 6 monthly payments beginning in January. Qualifying local boards would receive one-sixth of the total DAF distribution predicated on providing caseload reports on a timely basis. Professor Ghetti stated that the Board has always had the authority to change the method of distribution of the DAF. The other Board members were in agreement with her statement.

New LIDAB Website. Mr. Looney provided a data projector to show the board the newly redesigned LIDAB website. The website features include minutes from past board meetings, important notices, LIDAB forms for use by local boards, and capital case statistics.

Adjournment. There being no additional business brought to the attention of the Board, Mr. DiGiulio moved to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Boustany seconded the motion, which passed without objection.