Indigent Defense Assistance Board
Minutes
of the Board Meeting
Southern
University, Room 207
Members Present: Duncan S. Kemp, III,
Chair; Alfred Boustany; John DiGiulio; Cameron Gamble;
Ex Officio Members Present: Anthony Champagne and Henry Walker.
Staff Present: Edward R. Greenlee and Marsha Austtun Oliver.
Guests Present: Ben Cohen, Denise LeBoeuf,
Call to Order and Opening Remarks. The meeting was called to order at
Review and Adoption of
Minutes from the
Public Comments.
David
Utter. Mr. Utter, Director of the
Juvenile Justice Project of
Tom
Lorenzi. Mr. Lorenzi, a Calcasieu
Parish attorney and a member of the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Crisis
Assistance Center (LCAC), offered comments regarding the lack of any mechanism
in
Clive
Stafford Smith. Mr.
Stafford Smith stated that a lawsuit would soon be filed against the state for
violations of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel citing the recent U.S.
Supreme Court decision in Wiggins v. Smith 123 S. Ct. 2527 (2003). Mr. Stafford Smith further related his
experiences with indigent defense in Calcasieu Parish.
Litigation Committee. In response to the comments of Messrs.
Lorenzi and Stafford Smith, Mr. Di Giulio moved that a committee be appointed
to address the issue of litigation likely to be filed against the LIDAB
regarding lack of funding for indigent defense.
Mr. Gamble seconded the motion.
All other board members voted in favor of the motion with the exception
of Ms. Ghetti, who opposed the motion.
Mr. Di Giulio, Mr. Glass, Mr. Sarver and Mr. Boustany were appointed to
the committee.
Proposal of LCAC Board.
Tom Lorenzi of the Board of Directors of the
Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center (LCAC) addressed the Board regarding a
proposal to merge the LCAC with the Capital Appellate Project (CAP) to form a
new organization under the leadership of Neal Walker (currently the director of
CAP). For the purposes of discussion the
new organization was referred to as “Capital Defense Services.” It is proposed that Capital Defense Services
(CDS) would provide representation of capital defendants from trial to appeal. Stephen Singer of the LCAC prepared a
memorandum outlining the proposal. After
much discussion concerning possible ethical conflicts in combining trial and appellate
services, other state indigent capital defense systems and clarifications of
some errors in Mr. Singer’s memo, Mr. Phelps moved that the proposal regarding
the merger of the LCAC and CAP be tabled; Ms. Ghetti seconded the motion. Mr. Di Giulio proposed the motion be amended
to refer the merger issue to the capital committee. Ms. Ghetti seconded the motion as amended and
all other board members voted in favor of the amended motion with the exception
of Mr. Goff, who opposed the motion.
Fiscal Year 2003-2004 Budget. Mr. Greenlee reviewed the proposed budget for
fiscal year 2003-2004. All programs were
budgeted in the same amount as the previous fiscal year except for the amount
of funding for the LCAC. Mr. Greenlee
stated that because of the uncertain status of the LCAC due to the pending
departure of Mr. Stafford Smith and the proposed merger of the LCAC and CAP, he
was recommending that the LCAC be funded in the same amount of the conflict
offices, $425,000.00 and that approximately $100,000.00 in unbudgeted funds be
paid to the Baton Rouge Capital Conflict Office to assist in providing
investigative and legal assistance in the Lee case. The Board discussed the funding for the LIDAB
programs and Mr. Di Giulio moved that the LIDAB funding the LCAC in the amount
of $480,000.00 as in the previous fiscal year, subject to the capital
committee’s study of the proposed LCAC/CAP merger and other the future of the
LCAC; Mr. Sarver seconded the motion, Ms. Ghetti and Mr. Phelps opposed the
motion, which passed by a majority. Mr.
Goff moved that the amount of funding to the Juvenile Defender Program be
increased in the amount of $40,000.00 to $365,000.00; Ms. Ghetti seconded the
motion which passed without opposition.
Derrick Todd Lee Case Funding. Earlier in the meeting the Board voted
unanimously to table this issue until after the Board voted on a budget for
fiscal year 2003-2004. Mr. Greenlee updated
the Board in regard to his efforts to obtain funding from the legislature and
the governor’s office for the defense of Derrick Todd Lee. To date, no funds had been added to the LIDAB
appropriation to provide assistance to the 19th Judicial District Indigent
Defender Board for the defense of Mr. Lee.
Michael Mitchell, Chief Indigent Defender in the 19th Judicial District
and counsel for Mr. Lee, once again addressed the Board stating that his office
needed monetary assistance because it did not have sufficient funds in its
budget to provide Mr. Lee with a constitutionally adequate defense and handle
all the cases currently pending. Mr.
Mitchell’s budget for this calendar year is approximately $1.7 million and he
estimates that he needs a minimum of $800,000.00 to provide Mr. Lee with an
adequate defense. Mr. Stafford Smith
interjected to state that there are two other high-profile defendants who have
been indicted in East Baton Rouge Parish, the Washington Sniper suspects, and who
will require costly representation in each of their capital cases. After extensive discussion, the Board
unanimously voted in favor of a motion made by Mr. Di Giulio and amended by Mr.
Gamble and Ms. Ghetti. The motion
provided that the LIDAB acknowledged the need of the 19th JDC Indigent Defender
Board for additional monies to fund pending and anticipated capital trials, that,
regretfully, all monies in the LIDAB
budget were currently dedicated equitably to programs throughout the state and
that, therefore, no monies were available in the LIDAB budget to give the 19th
JDC Indigent Defender Board additional monies, and that the Board directed Mr.
Greenlee to seek funding “wherever possible on God’s green earth” to supplement
the funding the LIDAB is able to provide to the 19th JDC Indigent Defender
Board.
Capital
Post-Conviction Expert Funding. Denise
LeBoeuf advised the Board that the Board of Directors of the Capital
Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana (CPCPL) adopted a resolution prohibiting
the CPCPL from providing any funds for expert witnesses to civil law firms
handling capital post-conviction cases on a pro bono basis and requested that
the LIDAB adopt the same policy. Mr. Di
Giulio moved that the Board adopt the resolution of the Board of Directors of
the CPCPL prohibiting the CPCPL from providing any funds for expert witnesses
to civil law firms handling capital post-conviction cases on a pro bono basis. Ms. Ghetti seconded the motion which passed
without opposition.
Other
Business.
Determination of Indigency for Application Fee. John Simmons, Chief Indigent Defender for the
22nd Judicial District expressed concern regarding the need for guidelines for
the determination of indigency for implementation of $40.00 application
fee. Mr. Greenlee assured Mr. Simmons
that a committee was to be formed immediately to address the issue prior to the
effective date of mandated application fee.
HR151. Mr. Greenlee advised
the Board that the NLADA Annual Conference in
Adjournment. There being no additional business brought to the attention of the Board, Mr. Boustany moved that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Sarver seconded the motion which passed without objection.