Pro bono private attorneys play an important role in the work of Santa Clara County’s Public Defenders Office (PDO), says a new county civil grand jury report, “Volunteer Justice: The Power of Pro Bono Partnerships [in the] County of Santa Clara Public Defender’s Office (PDO).”
The grand jury doesn’t report the origin of the investigation, except to say that it “sought to understand the process involved in obtaining representation from a public defender and the circumstances under which the PDO would seek assistance from a private law firm.”
The grand jury’s conclusions are unambiguously clear: pro bono attorneys support “the PDO’s commitment to providing a robust defense to all defendants.” Far from being atypical or rare, private attorneys commonly provide pro bono work for public defenders’ clients.
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to criminal defendants “to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.” In 1921, California passed legislation creating county offices to “defend, without expense to them, all persons who are not financially able to employ counsel and who are charged with the commission of any contempt, misdemeanor, felony or other offense.”
California’s law became the model across the U.S., and Santa Clara County established the public defenders’ office in 1965. Each PDO attorney handles about 220 cases at any given time. While lawyers aren’t mandated to do pro bono work, they’re encouraged to do that work; starting next year, law firms will be required to report their pro bono work.
Private firms can help provide additional resources to the PDO, which may not have the necessary in-house expertise for specialized cases, explains the grand jury.
These cases include white collar crime, government integrity cases, securities fraud, money laundering and tax evasion, the report says.
“These types of cases involve a large volume of discovery and/or documents, are complex, typically require specialized analysis or expertise, and often involve extra hours of work to prepare a defense,” read the report.
The grand jury concluded that the pro bono attorney program “enables the PDO to leverage expertise and resources in its defense of a client, benefiting both the PDO and the client.”
Last year, former Santa Clara City Council Member Anthony Becker was defended by a public defender in his perjury trial, who also received outside counsel from pro bono attorneys.
Other investigations the grand jury completed this year include county procurement systems, San José fire department recruitment, Registrar of Voters audit procedures and juvenile justice.
You can read the report on the grand jury’s website, santaclara.courts.ca.gov/CGJ#GrandJuryReports.
Carolyn Schuk can be reached at carolyn@santaclaraweekly.com.
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