ACLU mulls appeal in Grant County public defender settlement

Judge ruled in Grant County's favor

EPHRATA - A Seattle attorney representing the ACLU said it hasn't been decided if a recent ruling made in Grant County's favor will be appealed.

Kittitas County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Cooper ruled Grant County will not have to pay the ACLU $100,000 concerning the county's representation of poor clients in 2006, Seattle attorney Don Scaramastra said.

Scaramastra said he believes the county failed to keep promises during its attorney shortage in Dec. 2006.

Scaramastra said the ACLU will also take into consideration issues noted in a 2007 court monitor's report of Grant County's indigent defense system. The report states the county didn't comply with the settlement agreement it had with the ACLU.

The issues include questions over defendants not being represented during first court appearances, the number of part-time defenders and case limits.

Grant County Public Defender Supervising Attorney Alan White said about five to 10 defendants didn't have attorneys during first appearances because the defendants were responding to court summonses.

White said everyone who was jailed was represented. He said his attorneys have received more training and are taking the initiative to look at the docket list to find first appearances.

Grant County Commissioner Richard Stevens said the county came up with a solution regarding first court appearances of defendants. The county's solution entailed having the correct person alerted if there's not a public defender in court.

"We've tried to respond to every issue that comes up," Stevens said.

He said the county is aware of some public defense attorneys practicing outside their contracts with the county and made appropriate adjustments by lowering their work hours.

Cases were taken from seven public defense attorneys working outside their county contracts to comply with the settlement agreement and the county lost about $45,000, he said.

He mentioned outside work done by an attorney the county learned about later, he said.

"They're saying the county isn't policing the attorneys well enough," he said. "We can't, they're all over the state."

In 2006, the county had difficulty luring attorneys to rural Grant County because attorneys believed the ACLU would be looking over their shoulders, Stevens said.

But for Grant County's 2006 performance, Judge Cooper decided the county made significant enough growth in the settlement agreement it has with the ACLU, Stevens said.

"The judge ruled that it wasn't perfect, but very good," Stevens said. "The judge said the citizens of Grant County are being served well by the indigent defense plan."

Grant County's spending for superior court public defenders increased from $700,000 in 2004 to $1.8 million currently, Stevens said.

"We're spending more money than anyone in the state per citizen, with the exception of Ferry County," he said.

The number of public defense attorneys in Grant County grew from five attorneys in 2004 to eight current attorneys, he said.

Despite the improvements made, Grant County ran out of public defense attorneys in December 2006 and left people waiting in jail unnecessarily for six weeks to two months, Scaramastra claimed.

But Stevens said no one went without an attorney for first court appearances and had attorneys while they were in court.

White said he learned from the court monitor of a defendant who reportedly sat in jail for a long period of time before he received an attorney visit. The defendant had an attorney in time for court, White said.

The county was following a Washington State Bar Association recommended annual limit of assigning 150 felony cases per attorney, Stevens said.

Scaramastra claimed the county was "front-loading" its program by using many part-time attorneys and giving attorneys most of their cases during the first quarter of 2006.

The ACLU turned to Kittitas County Superior Court, which enforces a settlement agreement that's in place between Grant County and the ACLU about the public defense system, Scaramastra said.

The ACLU wanted the county to pay $100,000 in deferred attorney's fees because the county didn't comply with the agreement, Scaramastra said.

The issue stems from a 2004 lawsuit in which the ACLU sued Grant County on behalf of three men who were charged with felonies and claimed they weren't given "effective assistance of council," the complaint states.

Before Feb. 12, 2004, a $500,000 annual contract system for public defense services was in place for Grant County's poor.

The fee didn't take into account the number of cases or the difficulty of the cases, according to the ACLU.

On Feb. 11, 2004, the Washington Supreme Court suspended Moses Lake attorney Thomas Earl from practicing law for allegedly requesting a client payment beyond what he was receiving from the county, court documents state. Earl held the public defense contract for Grant County.

Six days later, Grant County terminated his contract for public defense services, according to court documents.