One
side effect of the weak economy is the ever increasing burden being placed upon
governments to provide representation to those persons charged with criminal
offenses and unable to afford to hire an attorney to defend
themselves. Traditionally, the role of defending indigents has been
ably handled by Public Defender entities, and these entities still handle the
lion's share of the work load, however, the private Bar is being called upon
more and more often to represent defendants with whom the P.D.'s have a
conflict of interest, or simply cannot represent due to other
constraints. In these situations, the presiding Judge can order (appoint)
a private practitioner to represent an indigent person, and in
SC, a criminal lawyer can be appointed to up to eight (8) cases per
year. The compensation for these appointments ranges from $40 to $90 per
hour. Compounding the overall situation is the simple fact that the fund
used to compensate Court appointed attorneys is limited as
well.
Attorney David W Farrell has been practicing criminal law in SC for nearly 23
years, first as an assistant prosecutor in Richland County (Columbia) SC, and
subsequently as a solo practitioner with a strong emphasis on criminal
defense. Although Mr Farrell has always shouldered his share of the
burden in representing indigent defendants, this year he has pledged a
minimum of 100 hours of service in defense of indigents without seeking the
statutorily authorized compensation. Mr Farrell has contacted the Public
Defender in his home county of Lexington, as well as several Lexington Judges,
and requested that he be appointed to additional cases to fulfill this
goal. Recognition that the poor economy was leading to a sharp
increase in exactly the types of cases he most often handles, namely cases
involving alcohol, drugs and assaultive behavior, provided the impetus to make
this commitment. "I feel real compassion for the guy (or gal) who is
out of work and under the type of financial stress that can lead
to depression or substance abuse. And depression or substance abuse
can definitely increase the risk of DUI, drug possession, domestic
violence, or even drug distribution charges. I recently turned 50
and have been blessed with a wonderful family and good career
opportunities. I would like to make sure that I do my fair share and a
little bit extra for my community. We are extremely fortunate to have
excellent Judges, prosecutors and public defenders, but the system is strained
right now."
