Without Access to Lawyers, Three Accused Drug Dealers in Mass. Are Freed
A judge Monday freed three accused drug dealers because they hadn't seen a lawyer for weeks, and charges against them could be dropped. A prosecutor warned he was "concerned about the safety of the community."Superior Court Judge Peter Velis' decision followed a Supreme Judicial Court ruling in July that defendants held for more than seven days without seeing a lawyer must be released -- and that charges must be dropped against those who haven't had access to an attorney for more than 45 days.
The defendants had been in jail without seeing lawyers for 88, 105 and 126 days, respectively. "The issue stems from a standoff between court-appointed attorneys and the court system over how much lawyers are paid for representing poor defendants." Details here from the AP via the San Francisco Chronicle.
Comments
Hello, John. I've been doing a lot of writing on this topic, offering my opinion that the assigned counsel are engaged in concerted action that violates the antitrust law and ethical obligations. This proposed Letter to the Editor sets out the basic argument -- http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ethicalesq/stories/storyReader$1930 and has links to relevant materials.
I have taken hundreds of assigned counsel cases in NY at $25 per hour. I'm not against a pay raise for assigned counsel, but I do not believe that lawyers should use coercion to achieve their goals.
Posted by: David Giacalone | August 10, 2004 11:45 AM