By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
Although Gov. Rick Perry has not yet opened the call of the First Called Session to any issues not related to public school reform/finance and property tax relief, some members of the House and Senate are urging the governor to allow the Legislature to take up the judicial pay raise legislation that died in the waning moments of the 79th Regular Session.
Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) has filed SB 11, which has passed out of the Senate State Affairs Committee, but it only addresses judicial pay raises, but provides no funds for indigent defense.
Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) and Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) are urging House and Senate leaders to link any judicial pay raise to indigent criminal defense funding.
At a press conference this morning, Coleman said indigent defendants in Texas should have the opportunity for a good defense. He said that after recent problems in the Houston Police Department Crime Lab, it shows that one can have a better defense if there are enough dollars to ensure a proper investigation of charges against an individual.
He cited a Houston case in which a defendant was wrongly convicted. A detailed investigation led to information that proved his innocence and he was released. "He has moved on with his life after being wrongly convicted," said Coleman, noting, "Everybody deserves a good defense."
Texas ranks 43rd in the amount of dollars available for indigent defendants, said the Houston Democrat. "That's just not right." He said if the Legislature is going through the process of raising salaries for judges and thereby increasing legislators' pension amounts, "then surely there should be dollars included for indigent defense."
Coleman and Ellis favor including in the judicial pay raise bill additional fees that will help pay for indigent defense. Duncan's bill includes an additional $4 fee on criminal cases and a $37 fee on civil cases that will provide $30 million over five years to help fund a judicial pay raise. But it offers no help to local governments that must foot the bill for indigent defense.
During the 79th Regular Session, Ellis added an amendment to the judicial pay raise bill that would have increased indigent defense funds by $14.8 million in 2006 and $19.5 million in 2007, more than doubling the funds the state currently puts into indigent defense.
"This bill should not pass through the House or Senate or be signed by the governor without dollars in it - just as in the regular session - for indigent defense," said Coleman.
Steve Hall, director of the Stand Down Texas Project, said advocates understand that defense funding is "vital" to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system. He said of legislation addressing the issue, "It deserves to be heard and it deserves to be passed."
Keith Hampton of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association said that it is ironic that judges get a pay raise, prosecutors get a pay raise, and defense lawyers are "left standing outside" asking for the same thing.
"This is a priority for members of the House," said Coleman. He said if the issue is added to the call by the governor, when it comes to the House if it has the indigent defense funding in it, "We'll fight to keep that funding mechanism there." If the funding is not in the bill, Coleman said the House will try to put it in the bill. "There are some people around here who have millions of dollars for their defense," he said. "Sometimes things get pooh-poohed because we think people don't deserve something because they don't have money."
Noting that any individual who is arrested is innocent until proven guilty, Coleman said those individuals are guaranteed a good defense. "But that means you have to have good lawyers and people who understand the system," he said.