Today's Philadelphia Inquirer reports, "Report calls pay for lawyers in Philly death-penalty cases 'grossly inadequate'." It's by Robert Moran. Here's an extended excerpt:
A report ordered by the state Supreme Court concludes that the pay for court-appointed lawyers in Philadelphia death-penalty cases is "grossly inadequate" and "unacceptably increases the risk of ineffective assistance of counsel."
The report, made public Tuesday, was written by Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner, whom the high court ordered to assess the facts and legal issues on the subject and report back. It is now up to the Supreme Court to decide if it will act, and when.
Last year, The Inquirer reported that scores of Philadelphia death-penalty cases had been reversed by appellate courts or sent back for new hearings because of serious errors by defense attorneys. Low pay is a key reason, critics say.
In Philadelphia, fewer than 30 of 11,000 lawyers are willing to take capital-case appointments for indigent clients and also meet minimum state requirements for doing so.
And Philadelphia pays less than any other county in Pennsylvania, according to defense lawyers who petitioned the Supreme Court to increase the fees or halt death-penalty cases until that happens. The high court instead ruled that more information was needed and gave Lerner the assignment.
Lerner, who oversees homicide cases in Philadelphia, was told to determine if the pay for court-appointed lawyers was "so inadequate that it can be presumed that court-appointed counsel are constitutionally ineffective."
He also was asked if the problem needed to be dealt with "in a general, global sense," or case-by-case.
Lerner concluded that each case must be dealt with individually.
"However," he wrote, "the compensation of court-appointed capital defense lawyers in Philadelphia is grossly inadequate, both as to the dollar amount of the compensation and as to the compensation schedule provided by the present fee system.
". . . The existing compensation system unacceptably increases the risk of ineffective assistance of counsel in individual cases and is primarily responsible for the First Judicial District's growing inability to attract a sufficient number of qualified attorneys willing to accept court appointments in capital cases."
"Free lawyers defended," is the brief item in the Phialdelphia Daily News.
A study commissioned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has found that although the fees that the state pays court-appointed attorneys in death-penalty cases are "grossly inadequate," those fees do not mean that all such attorneys are "constitutionally ineffective."
The report, filed yesterday and written by Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner, states that the fee system - "a disaster waiting to happen" - could increase the risk of ineffective legal counsel and is primarily responsible for the low number of attorneys willing to accept court appointments in capital cases.
Among the report's recommendations are that a new fee system be created that pays capital-case attorneys a rate of $90 per hour for preparation and court time. Currently, lead attorneys are paid a $2,000 flat preparation fee plus $400 for each full trial day.
Judge Lerner's Report is available in Adobe .pdf format. Thanks to Jeff Gamso for securing the Lerner Report and Recommendations.
Earlier coverage of the Philadelphia capital indigent defense system begins at the link. Related posts are in the indigent defense index.
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