Nevada high court explores indigent defense issue

There was more consensus than controversy among public defenders, prosecutors and county managers who met with the Nevada Supreme Court on proposed changes to programs to represent indigent criminal defendants.

Federal Public Defender Franny Forsman said the Tuesday hearings before the state high court brought all sides a step closer to what she termed a "cultural sea change."

At Tuesday's public hearing, Forsman and Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Nancy Becker suggested revised language agreeable to both defenders and prosecutors for performance standards for indigent-defense lawyers.

The Supreme Court in March delayed implementing reforms aimed at ensuring indigent defendants get adequate legal representation, pending a review of the wording of performance standards. Rural court officials also questioned the feasibility of completely removing judges from the selection of court-appointed defenders.

Forsman and Becker on Tuesday identified five relatively minor issues still in dispute, including whether defendants should always be advised of their right to appeal a conviction.

In September, the Supreme Court will hold another public hearing about issues facing rural counties, including funding.

Judge Dan Papez, of the Seventh Judicial District Court covering White Pine and Lincoln counties, called it increasingly difficult for rural counties to fund indigent defense.

"It's a state responsibility," Papez said, "not a local responsibility."

Justice William Maupin has called the reforms the result of the most important examination of the Nevada state criminal justice system in recent years.

They were ordered after reports by the Las Vegas Review-Journal in March 2007 about flaws in Clark County's indigent defense system and reports that Clark County public defenders handled an average of more than 350 felony and gross misdemeanor cases a year. The National Legal Aid and Defender Association recommends defenders handle 150 such cases annually.

Clark and Washoe counties have commissioned caseload studies that will be used to determine whether caseload limits are needed.

Clark County also has taken other steps toward fulfilling Supreme Court mandates, including launching the Office of Appointed Counsel to oversee a system for appointing private lawyers to handle indigent cases.