Second Quarter 1999 Report

February 1, 1999 – July 31, 1999

September 15, 1999

Paul H. Kehir
Director

I. Director’s Comments:

The first six months of fiscal year 1999 saw a number of changes at FCCD. A second full-time investigator was placed on staff to assist attorneys with case preparation. A full-time Forensic Social Worker was hired to develop an Alternative Sentencing and Mitigation Unit under the Major Case Division. As a result of this, we were able to obtain 2 MSW forensic interns from the University of Georgia for this academic year. These interns will be working with our attorneys and also be assigned one day a week to the Family Court Division of Fulton Superior Court. Two of our staff attorneys attended national criminal defense colleges, and three members of our management team attended a one week management training seminar. Our firm was also able to attract fourteen summer law interns from Emory University School of Law, Georgia State University College of Law and the University of Georgia School of Law. Four of these interns will continue in a part-time capacity during the academic year. Two of these law interns are authorized to practice under the Third Year Practice Act and assist at various calendars. One of the Third Year Practice Act interns is fluent in Spanish and has been invaluable in assisting us with the representation of Hispanic clients.

FCCD provides services to clients in fifteen of the seventeen divisions of Fulton Superior Court. Our staff covers all Inquiry, Plea and Arraignment, Motion and Trial Calendars. During the first six months of our fiscal year, we opened 877 new felony cases, including 10 SB440 cases (juvenile defendants charged as adults). The firm handled 184 nonvictim bond hearings and 65 victim bond hearings. Staffing was provided at weekly SB440 preliminary hearing calendars and at Master Calendars which are held three days per week. A small number of probation revocation hearings were handled adjunct to the disposition of felony charges in the divisions.

Members of our staff presented CLE programs sponsored by the Georgia Indigent Defense Council, the Institute for Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. The Supervising Attorney of our Major Case Division was recently appointed to the post of Adjunct Professor of Law at Mercer University College of Law in Macon, Georgia.

Our Appellate Unit provides biweekly in-house CLE and maintains an interactive Webpage available to the criminal defense bar (fccd.com).

Administratively, we have upgraded our software to provide better case management and added a timekeeping program so the firm can monitor the actual time that staff spends on cases. FCCD has also completed some hardware upgrades, primarily to the main server and over the course of the next few months we anticipate additional hardware changes that will make our system more responsive. All computers have Internet access. This allows our staff to contact legal research, investigative, mental health and forensic sites, including the MACAD referral network. It also permits staff to discuss issues with other criminal defense agencies throughout the country.

We expect some major changes that may require different staffing patterns to occur in the near future. The Court is scheduled to begin five day a week All Purpose Hearing calendars in lieu of the three day a week Master Calendars. These hearings will be held at the Fulton County Jail. Also, the District Attorney’s Office will begin processing cases through the "complaint room" at Atlanta Municipal Court. The logistics and frequency of these operations will affect staffing.

Finally, FCCD is subject to the reporting and caseload requirements set forth in the Consent Order entered in Stinson v. Fulton County Board of Commissioners, et. al., U.S.D.C.N.D.Ga (Atlanta Division), Civil Action File Number 1-94-CV-240-GET. I do not anticipate a problem in complying with either of the foregoing requirements, but that could change if we are expected to staff either the All Purpose Hearing Calendars or Complaint Room on a full-time basis.

II. Superior Court Division:

Our Superior Court Division, supervised by Janet S. Willy, is composed of eight attorneys. The attorneys are supported by paralegals, investigators, and other support staff including the Alternative Sentencing and Mitigation Unit and the Appellate Unit. The attorneys and paralegals are divided into litigation teams. During the summer, every Superior Court Division attorney had an assigned legal intern. This division handles the majority of FCCD’s caseload.

Superior Court Division attorneys are assigned to specific divisions. Sixty-nine percent of case appointments were assigned by Fulton Superior Court Judges or Magistrates. Thirty percent of the cases were assigned at the jail. The remaining cases were SB440 assignments or FCCD’s response to various municipal court requests, such as Union City, East Point or College Park.

Of the cases assigned to the division, roughly seventy-one percent are classified as low grade felonies (VGCSA, Theft, Forgery/Fraud, Weapons, Probation Violations). Burglary cases amounted to another six percent of the cases assigned which would roughly indicate that seventy-seven percent of case assignments were for nonviolent felonies.

Case dispositional data reflects that sixty-two percent of all cases result in pleas. Another nineteen percent are dead docketed, dismissed or assigned to the PTI program. Less than two percent are resolved by trial. This data is consistent with dispositional data reported for Fiscal Year 1998 (February 1, 1998, through January 31, 1999).

It is also interesting to compare the number of cases assigned to FCCD at Master Calendar and the number of cases disposed of at Master Calendar. Over this six month reporting period, FCCD was assigned approximately 105 cases at Master Calendar. During the same time period, dispositions were recorded in 81 cases. This is also consistent with data from the 1998 reporting period where 257 cases were assigned at Master Calendar and 213 were closed. This makes a strong case for the initiation of the All Purpose Hearing Calendars in the event Master Calendar is phased out.

Current active caseload data by division reflects the number of current cases opened in each respective division as of September 1, 1999. This data fluctuates daily because of new indictments being assigned to the divisions and case transfers to and from divisions and Master Calendar. This should be viewed as a ‘snapshot’ of active cases on that particular day. However, one interesting statistic from this ‘snapshot’ is that thirty-three percent of the cases assigned to FCCD are unindicted. The significance of this is that the vast majority of cases cannot be resolved in the criminal justice system until they are assigned to Master Calendar or a division. Therefore, these cases are in a state of "legal limbo" and remain there until indicted or accused.

Statistical data for the six month period ending July 31, 1999, is presented in the appendix.

As mentioned earlier, two superior court division attorneys attended criminal defense colleges during the first part of this year. David Doering completed a two week intensive program at the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia, and Vicky Templeton completed a one week trial skills course sponsored by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association held in Dayton, Ohio. The Division’s Supervising Attorney attended a Management Seminar sponsored by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association this past spring.

III. Major Case Division:

FCCD’s Major Case Division was created to handle the most complex cases assigned to this office. This includes death penalty cases and cases in which there are extenuating legal, mental health or mitigation issues. Not all capital felonies are assigned to the Major Case Division. MCD was designed not to be just another trial division. MCD staff has developed in-house education programs through the Appellate Unit and a new and exciting Alternative Sentencing and Mitigation Unit. These activities provide support for the entire office as well as extending our presence and expertise to attorneys representing indigent clients in Fulton County. The latter is accomplished through our Website and in conjunction with outside CLE courses where MCD staff serve as instructors.

The Alternative Sentencing and Mitigation Division was established in cooperation with the University of Georgia School of Social Work. Historically, we have received one MSW forensic intern who has been assigned to the MCD attorney who also holds an MSW. This program was such a phenomenal success that we put an MSW on staff. As a result, UGA committed to 2 MSW forensic interns for the academic year and we are hopeful that this relationship will flourish as our efforts continue. Our ASM staff accepts referrals from all FCCD attorneys. They provide support in interviewing and assessing mentally challenged clients, SB440 cases, finding alternative placements for substance abusers and the mentally ill and assisting with presentence reports and memoranda. Because of their expertise, they are able to interface with DHR and other mental health providers where attorneys, investigators and paralegals have inadequate expertise. The National Legal Aid and Defender Association has requested that we present this model at the National Training Seminar in November. This presentation, "Defending the Indefensible" will be a cooperative effort by FCCD and the University of Georgia School of Social Work. Susan Wardell recently received a 1999 Georgia Woman Lawyer of Achievement Award from the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers for her accomplishments in this area.

As would be expected, cases assigned to this division include murder, sex crimes, armed robbery, aggravated assault and arson. Other cases include those where the state is seeking recidivist punishment (VGCSA cases) and cases where the client is mentally challenged. MCD currently has two active death penalty cases. The division is also responsible for the representation of all SB440 clients subsequent to bind-over. The intervention of the forensic social workers has been extremely effective in resolving many of these cases economically and with an emphasis on rehabilitation.

The Major Case Division also has an Appellate Unit. Last year, the Appellate Unit had 11 active cases. Of those, 9 are still active. During the first 6 months of this year, the Unit was assigned 12 new cases. Seven of these originated from FCCD, 2 were from the Public Defender and 2 others had retained counsel at trial and were assigned to us by the trial court for appeal and one client was represented by an appointed attorney. The majority of these cases are in the motion for new trial stage. One is in the Georgia Court of Appeals and one has a pending motion to enforce a plea agreement. Carl Greenberg, Senior Staff Attorney for the Appellate Unit also edits the monthly newsletter for the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

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STATISTICAL DATA

Chart 1 – Cases Opened by Point of Origin

Chart 2 – Cases per Month by Point of Origin

Chart 3 – Types of Cases Assigned

Chart 4 – Cases Assigned by Judge

Chart 5 – Cases Closed by Judge

Chart 6 – Disposition of Closed Cases

Chart 7 – Major Case Division, Current Caseload

Chart 8 – Major Case Division, Current Case Assignments

Chart 9 – Current Active Cases per Division as of September 1, 1999