Four years without a trial? Ga. legislators refuse to do their job
There’s something deeply wrong with this:
An accused killer from Pike County has sat in jail for nearly four years without a trial — not because of any problems with the evidence but because the state is seeking the death penalty and cannot pay for the man’s defense.
The case, argued Tuesday before the Georgia Supreme Court, could determine whether Georgia can afford the death penalty.
Jamie Ryan Weis, charged with killing a Pike County woman during a 2006 house burglary, did not have lawyers to defend him for more than two years because of money woes plaguing the state public defender system.
Four years without a trial? Because the state refuses to supply him with an adequate legal defense? What is this, some Third World country?
In any other kind of case, I’d say the court should force Weis’ release. Four years without a trial is ridiculous, and Weis’ court-ordered release might finally send legislators a message about the basic responsibilities of their office. But given that the charge is murder, release isn’t practical — you don’t want to endanger innocent lives to send a message. But ordering the case to be tried without the death penalty option seems eminently reasonable.
This isn’t a function of the state’s recent budget problems. It long predates that problem. It’s a function of state legislators trying to play cute with the judicial process by refusing to adequately fund indigent defense in capital cases. State and federal courts — courts generally favorable to the death penalty — have long made it clear that the right to effective counsel is constitutionally guaranteed in such cases. You can argue about it all you want, but it’s the law.
As reported by Bill Rankin, one of the AJCs’ best:
“In recent weeks, the state Office of the Capital Defender has not had enough lawyers to fully defend all of the approximately 70 death cases pending statewide. This includes two defendants charged in the July 26 slaying in Atlanta of former pro boxing champion Vernon Forrest.
Georgia court rules call for a capital defendant to be represented by two experienced attorneys. But because of overwhelming case loads, the capital defender office has been able to provide only one lawyer each for Charman Sinkfield and Jquante Crews, two of three men charged with Forrest’s murder.
The cases cannot move forward until each defendant has two lawyers, Jerry Word, acting head of the capital defender office, said Tuesday. The defender office also has been able to provide only one lawyer to two capital defendants in Walton County and another in Richmond County, he said.”
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97 comments Add your comment
Doggone/GA
November 11th, 2009
2:14 pm
Maybe they should just move him to GITMO
jewcowboy
November 11th, 2009
2:18 pm
But that would interfere with the Republican fishing mantra of throwing them back until they get bigger, then frying them up.
stands for decibels
November 11th, 2009
2:23 pm
Because the state refuses to supply him with an adequate legal defense? What is this, some Third World country?
No, it’s Georgia, but sometimes I think that’s what the state aspires to be.
Seriously, I sometimes hope that the tight-waddedness is what finally turns conservatives against the death penalty. At the end of the day, even most conservatives won’t argue that it should be quick and cheap for the Gubmint to put someone to death.
jewcowboy
November 11th, 2009
2:25 pm
“No, it’s Georgia, but sometimes I think that’s what the state aspires to be”
That made me giggle.
Normal
November 11th, 2009
2:27 pm
Isn’t there a Lawyer out there that would defend this guy Pro Bono, just beacause it’s the right thing to do?
@@
November 11th, 2009
2:29 pm
Bummer!
Maybe the state shouldn’t have wasted so much money on the Brian Nichols case.
Normal
November 11th, 2009
2:32 pm
Wouldn’t you hate to see him walk, because his right to a speedy trial has been violated…
jewcowboy
November 11th, 2009
2:32 pm
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence”
Somehow, even if he does finally get a trial and is convicted and is sentenced to death, the Supreme Court might have something to say about this on appeal.
jewcowboy
November 11th, 2009
2:33 pm
Normal,
Jinx!
Normal
November 11th, 2009
2:34 pm
Jewcowboy…great minds…
Doggone/GA
November 11th, 2009
2:34 pm
“Isn’t there a Lawyer out there that would defend this guy Pro Bono, just beacause it’s the right thing to do?”
It isn’t a matter of one lawyer. This guy is only an example. From Jay’s piece: “In recent weeks, the state Office of the Capital Defender has not had enough lawyers to fully defend all of the approximately 70 death cases pending statewide”
It’s 70 death cases, not just one.
Matilda
November 11th, 2009
2:34 pm
Mark this day, I’m agreeing with AtAt. IMO, when you shoot the judge during your own trial, you forfeit your right to a fair trial. Everything about the Nichols debaucle was an absolute embarrassment. He should have been shot on sight. Funds were, and are still being, wasted on that piece of trash.
Boogers for the Children Fund
November 11th, 2009
2:35 pm
Disagree J. Innocent until proven guilty. Release this fellow on his own recogni-sense, or however its spelled. 4 years is long enough to ruin this fellow and probably has already done so.
This guy should find some shark of an attorney and, if possible, sue the State of GA.
Regardless of lawsuit, guilt/innocence he is INNOCENT until proven guilty. At this time, immediate release is the only remedy.
thomas
November 11th, 2009
2:36 pm
Why does the state require 2 lawyers and experienced at that?
Seems as if 1 experienced and 1 green lawyer would be enough.
The victim of this crime is the truely sad case as they have waited all this time and still no justice only doubt and assumptions.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
November 11th, 2009
2:42 pm
Well, there must be some old drunk of a lawyer that would do the defense for maybe a couple hundred bucks. Some of them are so hard up they’re putting ads on TV just begging folks to call them and offering to come to their home. Maybe the state could make a parole officer wake the guy up every a.m. and make sure he gets to court and slip him a pint at the end of the day.
Anyhow, I like the Death Penalty. I stayed up late last night switching channels and making sure I got all the news I could get about the execution of this sniper Muslim. It makes me feel like a young man again, if you know what I mean.
And I wouldn’t mind seeing this murderer get the needle. But it ain’t worth a tax increase to get it done. The state’s about run out of money and is laying teachers off and closing the drivers liscence place and about everything else they can think of. So it seems to me they could set up a fund and get donations from people like me to pay some old drunk that still has a law liscence. I mean, I’m willing to pay for stuff I enjoy. Us Conservative Republicans got no problem with user fees. Just with tax increases.
That’s my opinion and it’s very true. Have a good p.m. everybody.
Doggone/GA
November 11th, 2009
2:43 pm
“Why does the state require 2 lawyers and experienced at that?”
I do have to question that also. Does the state require ALL defendents in possible death penalty cases to have 2 experienced lawyers, or does this just apply to indigent defendents that are get court appointed counselers?
jewcowboy
November 11th, 2009
2:43 pm
“Seems as if 1 experienced and 1 green lawyer would be enough.”
We are talking about state sanctioning the termination of life, the ultimate power. I think having 2 experienced lawyers is the least they can provide. How does the state say “I was wrong” to someone who has been executed if they get it wrong?
@@
November 11th, 2009
2:46 pm
Alright, I have to share a conversation I had with a leftist contributor years ago at the cartoonist’s site.
His sole focus was on the detainees at Gitmo and their delayed court hearings. Passionate on the issue, he was. I reminded him that there were hundreds, if not thousands sitting in jails across this country awaiting their right to a speedy trial.
His response? “Gee….I hadn’t thought about that.”
Angry Black Man
November 11th, 2009
2:47 pm
I agree with the Boog as well as Normal and Jewcowboy. The guy is innocent until proven guilty, and he has the right to a speedy trial. Say, for instance, he finally goes to trial and is acquitted. He could then turn around and sue over his rights being violated. It’s pretty safe to say that his right to a speedy trial has already been violated.
On the opposite side, the family of the deceased also should be afforded the opportunity to seek justice in the murder of their loved one. Delaying the trial also prolongs their grief and denies them closure.
Either way, Georgia comes out looking like an a$$.
Paul
November 11th, 2009
2:47 pm
I’ll bet if the state took away the cell phones of most state employees who have them they’d have the bucks.
Not being cute. Somehow, we pay gazillions for government employees to have embellishments that are vital to them being able to do their jobs… but that didn’t even exist a few years ago.
Okay, then, not get rid of… but greatly restrict access and use?
Point is, whenever there’s a ‘not enough dollars’ issue it’s public services (libraries, community pools, police response) that is first put on the chopping block – never, ever nice things that government employees do for themselves.
Gale
November 11th, 2009
2:47 pm
Where is that galactic policeman Klacto when you need him? A guilty perp would not cost one cent.
jewcowboy
November 11th, 2009
2:49 pm
“Georgia comes out looking like an a$$.
Doesn’t it usually?
Paul
November 11th, 2009
2:50 pm
ABM
[[I agree with the Boog]]
Is that like the Borg?
Boogers for the Children Fund
November 11th, 2009
2:51 pm
“I’ll bet if the state took away the cell phones of most state employees who have them they’d have the bucks.”
Here HERE…and take away the State Credit Cards. The savings/terminations due to employee theft should save 10s of millions of greenbacks.
Angry Black Man
November 11th, 2009
2:52 pm
Paul
Sorta like that. Just didn’t want to type out Booger. There’s just something about that word.
Truth
November 11th, 2009
2:53 pm
The problem is that people continue to commit crimes.
Angry Black Man
November 11th, 2009
2:53 pm
jewcowboy
Can I plead the 5th on that?
Normal
November 11th, 2009
2:55 pm
Headed off to the doctors for my psych screening
then to Moms…See ya tomorrow!
jewcowboy
November 11th, 2009
2:55 pm
Angry Black Man,
“Can I plead the 5th on that?”
Possibly several years from now if your trial is in GA.
joe matarotz
November 11th, 2009
2:56 pm
Bobolink Barr constantly rants about loss of freedom and loss of rights guaranteed by the Constitution, yet it is Jay who actually comes up with a true violation of Constitutional rights. Whether the skell is guilty or not, he still has a right to a speedy trial. The sooner he is tried, the sooner he can be found guilty. Then let him rot in prison.
Joey
November 11th, 2009
2:56 pm
jewcowboy and other interested posters;
Sorry I got pulled away at a most inconvenient time during the last post. I did respond at about 2:52, but it showed I was awaiting moderation.
@@
November 11th, 2009
2:57 pm
…and take away the double dipping state pensioners of old. Heck! my brother-in-law got in under the wire. He’s drawing two and still works as a consultant for the state blah blah blah. A whole slew of the guys who worked with him at the state blah blah blah are too.
Paul
November 11th, 2009
2:57 pm
ABM
Thanks. I wasn’t trying to be snotty, just curious –
Normal
Have a good one and ‘hi’ to Mom.
PS – don’t tell the shrink about your moniker…. he’ll just dig deeper…
Paul
November 11th, 2009
3:01 pm
@@
Your brother in law gets two state pensions? He worked long enough to qualify for two? And the state still pays him as a consultant? What is he – 110 years old?
Heckuva system they’ve set up for themselves. AIG at the state level.
Just wonderin'
November 11th, 2009
3:02 pm
What would his victim have been doing these past 3+ years? Any empathy for her or her family?
Angry Black Man
November 11th, 2009
3:02 pm
Paul
I didn’t take it as snotty. I actually perceived it as curiosity.
Normal
Take it easy, and let the Moms know we said hello.
@@
November 11th, 2009
3:03 pm
Heck! I just looked at the Georgia governors for the time my brother-in-law worked/retired at/from the state blah blah blah. They were all democrats. I’m guessing he’s a contractor under Sonny.
Whooooaaaaa
Dusty
November 11th, 2009
3:05 pm
ABM
I had a message for you over at “Blank Page” but got in too late. Anyway, I once heard a Codetalker make a speech at a Navajo Fair in Gallup, NM. He was a fine old gentleman who told us without any doubt that the Codetalkers had won WWII.
I use to eat breakfast with a Navajo WWII vet at the hospital dining hall in Ganado, AZ.. He said he and his buddies were told they would get to visit home right after basic training. But it turned out to be four years before they got home.
There is also a big memorial for Navajos in WWII at Window Rock, AZ, capitol of the Navajo Nation. There is a long list of those who were killed. A quiet place below the huge wind blown rocks tower over the site. They were loyal Americans fighting for their country.
(Sorry, but I will try to stick to the subject next time.)
Angry Black Man
November 11th, 2009
3:05 pm
just wonderin
^^^ @ 2:47
@@
November 11th, 2009
3:05 pm
Paul:
He started right out of high school. Not bad fer an unedumacated feller, huh?
Mrs. Godzilla
November 11th, 2009
3:06 pm
If we can’t try him….we should let him go.
(but I really hate that idea)
Joey
November 11th, 2009
3:07 pm
I agree that Justice is not being served here.
About the cost. And my ignorance my show here, but:
Is this a situation where a Geitner (sp) look-a-like should step in a fix the hourly rates and costs of the defense attorneys to something like 2-times the Prosecuters rates and costs?
Just wonderin'
November 11th, 2009
3:07 pm
Angry Black Man – good call. My oversight. I just get a little queasy when I hear such strong support for someone accused of murder, but little, if any, of the same passion for the victims and their families. Unfortunate, really.
@@
November 11th, 2009
3:09 pm
And to make it even worse….for us, not him….my brother-in-law draws 85 to 90% of his salary from that pension. That’s not including the lifelong health benefits he’s getting.
The government’s been screwing us, not their own, for a loooo-ooo-ng time.
Sunshine and Thunder
November 11th, 2009
3:09 pm
But I thought government did every thing better. Or is it just the Georgia government? I’m really not looking forward to the day you can’t get your appendix taken out because the legislature hasn’t allocated the funds.
Jay
November 11th, 2009
3:10 pm
Joey, the defense side would jump for joy if they got HALF the resources the prosecution gets.
Angry Black Man
November 11th, 2009
3:11 pm
Dusty
I’d love to meet any one of them. I love talking to people who not only witnessed history but were part of it.
Funny story, I was reading a book on the timeline of the Civil Rights movement here in the U.S. I made it halfway through the book and I stumbled across my father’s name in it. He was interviewed for a PBS special years ago along with people who were present at the March on Washington. I didn’t get to see the entire PBS show, but they had footage of him there in D.C. Anyway, the book describes that he and two others walked from Gadsden, AL all the way to Washington D.C. for the march. Until that moment, I never knew how he got there. I had to read the passage in the book a few times to believe it. I called one of my aunts to verify it. Needless to say, I’ll make sure my daughter reads it once she’s able to.
You never know history’s around you until you learn about it.
Paul
November 11th, 2009
3:13 pm
ABM
“Snotty” was just a play on your “Booger” -
just wonderin’
If you were to type ‘the’ victim instead of ‘his’ I’d say ‘lots.’
Here in Texas, Dallas DA has made quite a name for himself. Went head to head with the city council and power players and began reviews of murder cases. Rape cases. Guys in prison for decades. DNA testing. Bunches released. Seems every month one or two’s let out. And the cases where there’s an eyewitness or two? Released.
Spare me from a jury of my peers and a DA who wants a conviction.
@@
Not bad at all. Just seems like a generous system. But those in power know who to take care of, eh?
Joey
November 11th, 2009
3:13 pm
Jay;
In your previous post at 2:52 I responded to jewcowboy and ignorantly used the f-word for gay. Would you go in and modify that so that the post can stay?
Thank you. Joey.
@@
November 11th, 2009
3:16 pm
OR spare me from a jury of my peers who refuse to see the knows on the DA’s case.