Blood Money
MayorBob.
Posted to Legal on Wed Oct 01, 2008 at 01:05:51 PM EST (promoted by DEMachina). RSS.
The death penalty is frequently criticized because only the poorest among us really risk dates with the executioner. It would stand to reason that the poorest can't afford to put on a first class defense. One state, following a painful experience with reversals of wrongful convictions, decided to make sure money wouldn't deter a vigorous defense when one's life is on the line. That state, Illinois, set up a pot of money those accused of capital crimes could tap to pay for their defense. Now it seems that this noble experiment in leveling the playing fields is tarnished as it was revealed that those who were supposed to be vigorously defending their clients were just as vigorously looting the taxpayer-provided defense fund.
Illinois's Capital Litigation Defense Fund was established in 2000 (scroll down to ISBA-supported bill) to "ensure that a lack of financial resources would not deny a death penalty defendant access to competent counsel and the ability to mount a credible defense." Part of the fund is made available to prosecutors to assist them in offsetting the typically high costs of a capital murder case. But, the bulk of the money eventually finds itself being disbursed to defense attorneys assigned to defend, at times, indigent clients. Since the fund opened up eight years ago, more than $150 million has been spent (pdf doc).
The expenditures have increased during a period in which there has been a moratorium on death sentences. And, although the original intent of the fund was to provide the accused adequate resources during their initial murder trials, Illinois expanded use of the money in 2004 to those appealing their convictions. Even though concerns were raised about questionable expenses in 2004, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report shows that the fund still goes unaudited and uncontrolled by state officials. Consider some of the questionable expenses connected with the murder trial of Jason Smith:
In total, Jason Smith's defense team tapped the fund for well over $1 million. Nixon asked if "anyone in business ... travel(s) for free" and, because he normally charges $350 an hour, he gave the Illinois taxpayer "a discount." Alva Busch, a private investigator who worked on the Smith case, collected more than $920,000 for his work on some 20 cases over the past five years. One local prosecutor said the lax oversight of the fund is an inducement for defense lawyers and expert witnesses to "milk this thing like a cow." The main problem being that there is no single state office which oversees the fund; trial judges are authorized to approve expenditures from the fund. This troubles St. Clair Circuit Judge Milton Wharton enough that he is formally asking the state Attorney General to look into the matter.
Lest anyone think it's only defense teams which have rung up some dotty expenditures out of the fund, the Post-Dispatch reports more than a few questionable prosecution expenditures. These include some $20,000 to pay for medication for an accused murderer when inmate health fees are normally the responsibility of the county holding the prisoner. Yet, the fund's notoriety as an open treasure chest is well known enough for one law firm to comment "if you've got the money, spend it." And that's a sentiment that worries State Senator Bill Haine (D - Alton). As he sees it, there has to be some sort of limit put on the fund or "these guys are just going to bleed this dry."
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