County Hires More Attorneys for Public Defender’s Cases : Crisis: Despite office reorganization, additional lawyers are still needed, as in case with six defendants.

Even as the cash-strapped county began efforts to slash funds spent on outside attorneys for indigent defendants, four new private lawyers were hired Tuesday to represent a handful of criminal defendants when the Orange County public defender’s office could not handle them.

But officials said the number of cases assigned to private attorneys is still expected to be limited to about 100 a year under a new cost-cutting program prompted by the county’s bankruptcy. The restructuring splits the public defender’s office into three separate divisions to handle cases previously assigned to higher-paid private attorneys.

“Everything went smoothly. Everything went as planned,” said Alternate Defender Brian Ducker, who was recently named to head the second branch of the public defender’s office.

Previously, the private bar handled thousands of criminal cases when the public defender’s office declared a “conflict,” such as in cases involving multiple defendants. Case law and ethics prevent attorneys in the same office--public or private--from representing more than one defendant in a case, to ensure that each suspect receives the best possible defense.

Under the new program, the public defender will continue to handle the bulk of the cases while the alternate defender and a third office will handle most of the remaining cases. The move is expected to save about $3.7 million this year.

Private attorneys will be used only as needed. A six-defendant kidnaping case in Municipal Court in Santa Ana on Tuesday morning required the assistance of four private attorneys, because the third branch of the public defender’s office will not be operating until the end of this month.

Some private attorneys who have been stripped of contract work for the county have been left with uncertain financial futures. Others are wondering when they will be paid for work already performed or for ongoing cases.

In one of the most pressing examples, defense attorney George A. Peters Jr. said he may ask that murder charges be dismissed against Richard K. Overton if the county does not release funding for defense investigators and expert witnesses needed at trial. Overton, who has pleaded not guilty to fatally poisoning his wife, is expected to go on trial next month.

Peters sought an order Friday from Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner to make county funds available “forthwith.”