December 2016

DBA EVENTS Tim Young from the Ohio Public Defenders Office speaking at the November 3rd Chancery Club Luncheon.

Recap:

The November Chancery Club Luncheon

By Daniel J. Duroucher Esq. Assistant Public Defender DBA Editorial Board Montgomery Cty Public Defender's Ofc

T T

he Old Courthouse was full of familiar faces for November’s Chancery Club Luncheon.

Attorneys from a variety of practice areas enjoyed the creations of Franco’s Ristorante Italiano under the historic dome while they chatted amongst themselves and eagerly awaited the presentation from Mr. Tim Young. Mr. Young has served as the Ohio Public Defender since January of 2008, but before that, he was an attorney in our very own Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office. His roots as a trial lawyer were immediately apparent; as he began to speak, the room quieted and the crowd’s focus shifted to the distinguished guest.

Mr. Young gave a compelling presentation about Ohio’s indigent defense system. The heart of his talk was on the recent changes to the appointed counsel rules contained in the Ohio Administrative Code, but as any good trial lawyer would do, he told his audience an interesting story.

As one might expect, he began his story at the beginning. Mr. Young explained that he was speaking to the audience on the 40th anniversary of the codification of Ohio’s public defense statute. But he lamented the fact that the statute has done little to fulfill Gideon’s promise to the indigent accused.

When he began his work as the Ohio Public Defender more than eight years ago, there were county offices where the attorneys worked in loud cubicles without computers or files; there was seldom a quiet place to meet with a client. But he proudly explained that his office has taken steps to remediate those fundamental problems and has now turned its attention to other important issues. On such issue is the low quality of the lawyers that are too often appointed to represent poor defendants in many Ohio counties. The new appointed counsel rules are designed to raise the bar and ensure that the lawyers that are appointed have the requisite skill to handle their important jobs.

“We use the freedom of poor people to train brand new lawyers,” remarked Mr. Young. Under the new rules, that will change. The rules, which were created by the Ohio Public Defender Commission with input from judges and lawyers from across the state, set minimum standards for appointed lawyers. For example, in third degree felony cases the appointed attorney must have at least one year of criminal law experience and have prior experience as lead trial counsel in at least one jury trial, or as co-counsel in at least two jury trials. Ohio Admin. Code 1201-10(F). Further, the appointed lawyer in any felony case must have completed a minimum of twelve hours of continuing legal education in criminal practice and procedure within the

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Dayton Bar Briefs December 2016

Join us at our next Luncheon in the New Year!

The Old Courthouse Friday, February 10, 2017 Doors open at 11:30am Caterer: Franco’s Ristorante Italiano Speaker: Judge Dennis J. Langer

Topic: Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of Amerca

preceding two years. By design, the amount of experience and training required by the new rules varies with the severity of the offense charged.

The public defender commission adopted the new rules because it wanted to prevent those who merely “dabble” in criminal defense from being appointed, explained Mr. Young. But the commission has no authority to say who can and cannot practice in an Ohio court; that power is left to the Ohio Supreme Court. What the commission can do, however, is set standards on how money earmarked for indigent defense can be spent.

Currently, the Ohio Public Defender reimburses a county forty eight cents for every dollar it pays an appointed lawyer. If a county wants to receive that reimbursement, then it must comply with the new rules.

Hopefully, in another forty years, our State’s indigent defense system will be the ideal for which other states strive. With any luck, these new rules will set us off in that direction and improve the caliber of appointed counsel in every case. And while some may find fault in the new rules, at the very least, we can all agree that the quality of justice a person can attain should not be a function of a person’s financial status.

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