Los Angeles County elected officials are preparing to consider an overhaul of the county's system for defending minors accused of crimes, following the release of a report that found attorneys contracted by the county to represent juveniles get fewer resources and less oversight than those in other counties. Youths whose families can't afford a lawyer and who can't be represented by the public defender's office because of a conflict of interest are represented by county-contracted private attorneys who are paid a flat rate of $340 to $360 per case. The report by UC Berkeley's Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy released Monday found that L.A. County was the only one of 11 large California counties examined that pay a flat rate no matter how much work a case involves. It was also the only one to not give the private attorneys access to county-paid investigators and not to have a centralized oversight body monitoring their work. The report found panel attorneys were less likely than the public defenders to consult with experts or social workers and filed fewer motions. And youths represented by the panel attorneys were more likely to end up being tried in adult court. |
Read the entire article by ABBY SEWELL, Los Angeles Times, 2016-03-30 HERE |
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