High court hears public defenders’ request

Lawyers seek relief from caseload burden

SANTA FE — State Supreme Court justices said they will take their time in deciding the Law Offices of the Public Defender’s legal plea for relief from extremely high caseloads its members say unconstitutionally strains their capacity to represent poor people facing jail time.

Public defenders in Lea County since last year have been requesting to be excused from cases because they are overworked and unable to offer constitutionally mandated effective representation. Judges have denied these requests, which if granted would have meant no attorney would represent the client in violation of the constitutional mandate that every indigent person facing jail time be provided with representation.

The prosecutor for the region and prosecutors with the Attorney General’s Office hold that defenders aren’t so overburdened that they are failing their clients.

Assistant New Mexico Attorney General Regina Ryanczak argued before the packed courtroom Wednesday that public defenders can’t be as burdened as they say since they take 40 to 50 cases a year to trial and are able to successfully secure acquittal in 80 to 90 percent of the cases.

David Henderson, appellate attorney for the state Public Defender’s Office, argued that indeed defense attorneys are taking cases to trial and winning, but that’s at the expense of other clients because attorneys don’t have time in their days to meet all the demands. He said it has been common for clients to go without a lawyer during initial court appearances, which determine whether they are released on bail or stay in jail.

Justice Edward Chavez flipped Ryanczak’s point, calling out “the other elephant in the room: prosecutorial discretion,” or the authority of prosecutors to decide how to pursue each case, as a factor to consider in the issue.

Many of the justices’ questions focused on what steps the Public Defender’s Office took before jumping into their legal plea, which calls on the Supreme Court to force judges to accept withdrawal requests or establish a sort of independent monitor to help the parties coordinate solutions.

Ryanczak, when pressed by the judges, suggested one “unpopular” solution could be to adjust speedy trial rules, meaning people arrested would just have to wait until the public defender could fit their case into the busy schedule.

The suggestion drew gasps and some uncomfortable laughs from the crowd.

The court decided to take the case under advisement. Justices offered no time frame for a decision.