Indigent Defenders Get the Job Done and Done Well (From Criminal Justice System: Politics and Policies, Seventh Edition, P 264-288, 1998, George F. Cole and Marc G. Gertz, eds. -- See NCJ-185991)

• NCJ Number: 186003
• Author(s): Roger A. Hanson; Brian J. Ostrom
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 25 pages
• Grant Number(s): SJI-89-05X-B-045
• Sponsoring Agency: State Justice Institute
• Sale Source: Wadsworth Publishing Co
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Collected Work
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: "Indigent Defenders Get the Job Done and Done Well" by Roger A. Hanson and Brian J. Ostrom, National Center for State Courts.

Annotation

Data from a trial court study showed methods of providing counsel to indigents did not conform to the usual division of public defender, assigned counsel, and contract systems.

Abstract

Data were obtained on defense representation and felony dispositions in nine courts to assess how frequently indigent defenders obtained favorable outcomes for their clients. It was found indigent defenders were generally as successful as privately retained counsel. Conviction, charge reduction, and incarceration rates for clients were similar to outcomes associated with privately retained counsel. Findings are described for specific court systems in Michigan, Washington, Colorado, Virginia, California, Maine, and Puerto Rico. Issues for future consideration are noted that concern what aspects of indigent defenders are translatable into management information systems and what aspects warrant further research, lawyer-client relations and the time indigent defenders give to individual defendants, and the issue of satisfaction versus productive work. 34 notes and 4 tables