Louisiana

Indigent Defense Assistance Board

Minutes of the Board Meeting

October 16, 2003

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Louisiana State Capital, House Committee Room 2

Members Present: Alfred Boustany; John DiGiulio; Cameron Gamble; Addison Goff; Leo Hamilton; Duncan Kemp; Donald Phelps; and Richard Sarver.

Ex Officio Members Present: Anthony Champagne and Henry Walker.

Staff Present: Edward R. Greenlee and Marsha Austtun Oliver.

Guests Present: Michael Mitchell, George Steimel and David Utter.

Call to Order and Opening Remarks. The meeting was called to order at 2:15 p.m. by the Chair. Ms. Oliver called the roll; a quorum was present.

Review and Adoption of Minutes from the September 4, 2003 Meeting. Mr. Hamilton moved to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the meeting held on September 4, 2003 and that the minutes be adopted. Mr. Gamble seconded the motion, which passed without objection.

Election of Vice-Chair. Mr. Phelps moved that Anthony Champagne be elected to the position of Vice-Chair; Mr. Goff seconded the motion which passed unopposed.

Request by Department of Corrections to Debit the Grant to Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana. Mr. Greenlee briefed the Board in regard to a request by George White, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Corrections Office of Youth Development to withhold funds from the grant paid to the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL). Mr. White, in a letter dated October 1, 2003, requested that the LIDAB assist the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Corrections Services in collecting a $1,962.75 from the JJPL for copy costs allegedly owed by JJPL. Mr. Greenlee invited Mr. White to address the Board regarding this request; however Mr. White was not present at the meeting. Mr. Utter, Director of JJPL, addressed the Board regarding the funds allegedly owed to the Department of Correction. Mr. Utter explained that the copy costs cited by Mr. White as owed by JJPL to the DOC Office of Youth Development were for copies of documents necessary to the defense of indigent juveniles represented by the Post-Disposition Project of JJPL, and, therefore, payment for these copies was not required. After discussion, Mr. Goff moved that the Board would not withhold monies from the grant awarded to the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana to pay the Department of Corrections for funds allegedly owed by JJPL to the DOC for copy costs and, further, that as a policy of the Board, the LIDAB would not withhold funds from any recipients of LIDAB funds for the payment of debts allegedly owed to third parties. Mr. Hamilton seconded the motion which passed without opposition.

Payment of Experts in State v. Willard Allen. Mr. Greenlee advised the Board that a Rule for Contempt had been filed against the Board in a post-conviction proceeding entitled “Willard Allen v. Burl Cain.” The rule for contempt alleges that the LIDAB had not paid for expert witness fees, investigation fees and administrative costs pursuant to court orders issued as a result of an agreement made by the previous director of the LIDAB. Mr. Allen is represented, pro bono publico, by Andrew R. Lee, M. Richard Schroeder, Matthew Brown and R. Kevin Hamilton of Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre (Jones Walker). Because the court orders in this case pre-existed the demise of the Expert Witness/Specialized Testing Program and the Board’s policy to not pay expert fees, Mr. Greenlee requested the Board make an exception to this policy and make payment to Jones Walker for the outstanding fees and costs. Mr. Greenlee also stated that he would contact the 10th Judicial District Indigent Defender Board and request that it pay for at least a portion of the expert witness fees and other costs incurred in the Allen case. Mr. Di Giulio moved that the expert witness fees and expenses incurred by Jones Walker in be paid by the LIDAB and Mr. Hamilton seconded the motion which passed without opposition.

Discussion of Fiscal Year 2004-2005 Budget. Mr. Greenlee informed the Board that he prepared and filed New or Expanded Service Budget Forms with the Governor’s office for fiscal year 2004-2005 requesting additional funding. The additional funds would be used to increase the amount paid to the local boards through the District Assistance Fund, provide more indigent defendants sentenced to death with post-conviction representation of indigents as mandated, expand the conflict and rural assistance program to represent additional indigent defendants, and to establish an expert witness and specialized testing fund. In the past requests for additional funding had not been made using these forms and Mr. Greenlee felt the use of the New or Expanded Service forms would draw more attention to the woefully inadequate funding currently budgeted for the LIDAB. At this time, George Steimel, a lobbyist for the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, addressed the Board to request the Board consider proposed federal legislation that may provide funds to indigent defense on the state level and “act appropriately” to qualify for such funding. Mr. Greenlee assured Mr. Steimel that he had been tracking the legislation since its inception and would take all necessary action to obtain funding should the proposed legislation become law. Several Board members also assured Mr. Steimel of their familiarity of the proposed legislation. No Board action was necessary in regard to Mr. Steimel’s request.

Discussion of Interim Emergency Board Issues. Michael Mitchell, Chief Indigent Defender for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, once again addressed the Board regarding the need for funding in the Derrick Todd Lee case. Mr. Mitchell reiterated his request for a special grant to the 19th Judicial District Indigent Defender Board for the defense of Derrick Todd Lee. Mr. Mitchell stated that his most pressing need for funding was for specialized testing and expert evaluation in the Lee case. Mr. Mitchell expressed concerns regarding client confidentiality should Mr. Greenlee apply to the Interim Emergency Board for funds for expert witnesses and specialized testing. Mr. Steimel again addressed the Board reading from La.R.S. 39:461.1 in regard to qualification for emergency funds. Mr. Steimel expressed the opinion that costs of defense for Derrick Todd Lee would not qualify for funding from the Interim Emergency Board.

Mr. Boustany also expressed concerns that the Interim Emergency Board may ask for information that would be protected by attorney-client privilege in order to make a decision whether or not to provide funds for the defense of Mr. Lee. After further discussion, Mr. Goff moved that Mr. Greenlee advise Mr. Mitchell in writing to file a Touchet motion to obtain a court order for experts in the Lee case and then apply to the Interim Emergency Board for funding on the basis of the court order. Mr. Phelps seconded the motion which passed without opposition.

Adjournment. There being no additional business brought to the attention of the Board, Mr. Hamilton moved that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Phelps seconded the motion which passed without objection.