County Owes $550,000 for Indigent Defense
The county must come up with an additional $550,000 to pay Conflict Defense Associates, which already receives $1.3 million annually to provide legal services to indigent defendants in criminal cases, supervisors will be told Tuesday.
CDA is contracted by the county to handle defense cases that the public defender’s office cannot take due to conflicts of interest. It is expected to go over budget this fiscal year by more than 40%--as it did last year--because of an increase in capital cases.
“This is a mandated service, and the request is being driven by the cases being tried in the county right now,” said Robert Sherman, an analyst in the county’s chief administrative office, citing a glut of complex murder cases increasing the need for defense services.
Murder trials related to the slayings of homemaker Sherri Dally and toddler Joselin Hernandez added to CDA’s workload. Also, the “three-strikes” law has sent more cases to trial, as “pleading out early” is no longer an option, Sherman said.
Sherman’s office is recommending that county supervisors approve the additional expenditure at their meeting Tuesday.
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