NCJ Number
152635
Date Published
1987
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This survey provides baseline data to the Florida Legislature for use in reviewing a budget request that involves estimates of the amount of time attorneys in private practice have expended and the expenses incurred in providing representation in post-conviction death-penalty cases in Florida and other States.
Abstract
A questionnaire developed for the survey solicited information on the time (in hours) expended by both private attorneys and their support staff at each level of the post- conviction process. Information was also obtained on the expenses incurred by these attorneys. By the end of January 1987, 114 completed questionnaires had been received: 41 from private attorneys and law firms who had handled post-conviction death penalty cases in Florida and 73 who had handled such cases outside of Florida. Researchers believed that this sample was sufficient to generalize to all post-conviction death penalty cases. There were 96 respondents who reported they had handled a post-conviction death penalty case in their State trial court. The largest number of hours reported on a single case was 4,116; the fewest number of hours reported was 65. The median hours reported for all 96 respondents was 400 hours. This represents approximately 25 percent of a lawyer's time for a full year just for providing representation in one post-conviction death penalty case litigated only at a specific level. The median amount of expenses for both the Florida cases and the documented cases is $10,000 and $13,556, respectively, even without total figures available in all cases. This is noteworthy, since in many cases in Florida and other States, these are out-of-pocket expenses for which attorneys are not reimbursed. 9 tables and appended questionnaire