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WA: pitting public defender agencies against each other

By Skelly

An article pretty much siding with one Seattle p.d. office over another, from the Seattle Weekly:Is This Really the Best Defense? - Nickels' critics wonder if defendants have suffered since the mayor put public-defense contracts out to bid"I think [the city] took a competent system and trashed it," says Seattle University law professor John Strait. He points, as evidence, to a recent city auditor's report that showed fewer cases going to trial. Traditionally, the overwhelming majority of criminal cases end with a plea. But the "jury trial rate" at muni court has fallen further under the city's new system. For every 100 cases, only 0.98 went to trial in 2006, versus 1.35 in 2004. That's a 27 percent decline.Janet Ainsworth, also a law professor at Seattle University...continue to full post

Full post as published by Arbitrary and Capricious on January 31, 2008 (boomark / email).