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Deputy PDs Chastise Public Defender Over Workloads
More Than 300 Deputies Call Upon the Office’s Chief to Declare ‘Unavailable’ for Cases
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Deputy public defenders in Los Angeles County, in an action reflecting disgruntlement with the head of their office, have upbraided Public Defender Ricardo Garcia for failing to take action to block the loading of deputies with more defenses than they can handle competently by declaring the office’s resources to be “unavailable.”
The website Laist.com on Tuesday made public a Feb 22 letter to Garcia from the Los Angeles County Public Defenders Union bearing the signatures or initials of in excess of 300 deputies—more than half of the lawyers in the office.
By
coincidence, the letter was sent on the very day that the Association of Deputy
District Attorneys that 97.9 percent of its more than 800 members had voted to
support the proposed recall of their office’s head, District Attorney George Gascón.
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RICHARD GARCIA Public Defender |
‘Crisis’ Seen
The letter says:
“Our office is in crisis. You must take immediate action to address excessive workloads by going unavailable. Our attorneys have reached the point where they can no longer continue to accept new cases while continuing to provide effective representation to our clients. The problem is only becoming more acute due to the increase in attorneys leaving the office, as well as attorneys taking leave due to burnout caused by unmanageable workloads.”
It goes on to say:
“While we appreciate the efforts management has taken to attempt to alleviate the workload crisis, including increasing long-term funding goals, these measures are not sufficient to address the immediate emergency. Declaring unavailability is the only solution that will allow us to comply with our ethical obligations to our clients. It is squarely within your power, and, more importantly, it is your ethical obligation, to declare unavailability in our office.”
The State Bar of California’s 2006 “Guideline on Indigent Defense Services Delivery Systems Guidelines” and the American Bar Association’s 2009 “Eight Guidelines of Public Defense Related to Excessive Workloads” were among the authorities cited in the letter as calling for a refusal to taker on more cases than can be managed consistent with faithful representation.
‘Ethical Obligations’
The deputies told Garcia:
“By signing this letter, we are officially and unequivocally requesting that you declare our office unavailable and are providing notice of our, as well as your, ethical obligations as it relates to our workloads and the representation of our clients.”
Signing the letter were four of the six deputy public defenders who are seeking election to Los Angeles Superior Court judgeships. The four are Holly L. Hancock, Elizabeth Lashley-Haynes, Lloyd Handler, and Anna Slotky Reitano; not signing were Patrick Hare and Kevin Thomas McGurk.
LAist quotes Garcia as retorting, “I will not abandon the indigent accused by going unavailable unless I have done everything possible internally to manage operations,” with the union responding:
“Declaring unavailability is the only way to ensure our clients are not abandoned due to ineffective representation.”
Garcia was hired as public defender by the Board of Supervisors in August 2018. He was then a deputy public defender in San Diego.
Unlike the outgoing public defenders Wilbur Littlefield (1976-93) and Michael Judge (1994-2010), both deceased, Garcia has a low profile.
Copyright 2022, Metropolitan News Company