Judge finds cash-strapped chief public defender in contempt

[TexasTowelie]

A Lea County judge this week found the state’s chief public defender in contempt for failing to provide lawyers for indigent defendants and imposed a $1,000 fine in each of five criminal cases in which the cash-strapped Law Offices of the Public Defender failed to enter an appearance.

The judge’s action, described by the state Public Defender Commission chairman in a letter Tuesday, represents the clearest consequence yet of a funding crisis that the agency and the courts have been warning lawmakers about for years as the governor and the Legislature slashed state budgets in the face of declining revenues.

Commission Chairman Michael Stout said in his letter that state District Judge Gary Clingman issued the order during a hearing at which the judge told Chief Public Defender Ben Baur — who appeared by video conference — that he could purge the contempt findings by following his “statutory duties” to represent defendants.

Stout wrote that “Ben and his team are discussing how to respond as they await the written order.”

Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/judge-finds-cash-strapped-chief-public-defender-in-contempt/article_1384bdd6-397d-5e90-9962-9bc1399b12d1.html