District Defender Michelle Davidson was ecstatic when she heard in May that Missouri legislators had appropriated $2 million in federal stimulus dollars to the state’s beleaguered public defender system. She dreamed of a newly hired defender who could cover her ...

Tagged with: Jay Nixon public defenders

Missouri Bar President Skip Walther finalized a task force this week that will ponder solutions to ongoing resource problems for all parts of the criminal justice system. Two past bar presidents, several prosecutors and public defenders and one former lawmaker ...

Tagged with: Cat Kelly Dwight Scroggins J.R. Hobbs Missouri Bar public defenders Skip Walther

At the urging of a new Missouri Bar governor, the Missouri State Public Defender System may try to recoup some of the $70,000 the system raised to pay for a comprehensive study of its caseload problems. The governor, Marie Kenyon, ...

Tagged with: Cat Kelly Dwight Scroggins Missouri Bar Board of Governors prosecutor public defenders Skip Walther Spangenberg Group

Faced with two cases focusing on the caseload crisis in the Missouri State Public Defender System, at least two judges on the Missouri Supreme Court gave a nod to the system’s financial straits. Judges Richard Teitelman and Michael A. Wolff ...

Tagged with: Michael A. Wolff public defenders Richard Teitelman William Ray Price Jr.

The latest independent study of Missouri’s public defender system reaffirmed its overloaded status and declared Missouri’s indigent defense options are “headed for disaster.” The report, released Friday morning, also suggested defenders are using stricter standards for indigent defense as a ...

Tagged with: public defenders Spangenberg Group

The latest independent study of Missouri’s public defender system reaffirmed its overloaded status and declared Missouri’s indigent defense options are “headed for disaster.” The report, released Friday morning, also highlighted a “backdoor method of case disposal,” where defenders decide a ...

Tagged with: public defenders Spangenberg Group

The state’s public defender system will likely receive only $500,000 of the $2 million in federal recovery funds allocated to the beleaguered system by the state Legislature. Gov. Jay Nixon’s budget office released the $500,000 on Oct. 15. Is it ...

Tagged with: budget public defenders

When it comes to its promised $2 million in federal stimulus funds, the state's public defender office has a message for Gov. Jay Nixon: "Show me the money." As the clock ticks toward the endpoint for use of the stimulus funds - June 2011 - Nixon hasn't released any stimulus dollars to the state's beleaguered system. It's been five months since the Legislature approved the allocation. System Director J. Marty Robinson (pictured, center) struck a hopeful tone. "I would be very surprised if we do not get it," Robinson said.

Tagged with: Gov. Jay Nixon Linda Luebbering public defenders

State budget cuts. Rising costs. Daunting caseloads for public defenders. Fewer clients for lawyers in private practice. Nearly everyone is feeling the pinch. The Missouri Bar plans to tackle economic concerns in its Thursday plenary session “Can We Afford Justice?” ...

Tagged with: budget cuts caseload public defenders The Missouri Bar

I took the job. On Oct. 5, 2009, I will begin my job with the Missouri State Public Defender as an assistant public defender in the District 2 office in Kirksville. I will be about 191.41 miles from my current ...

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Attorney's filing also alleges misconduct by St. Louis County prosecutor's office

L. Steven Goldblatt has taken it into his own hands to address problems with Missouri's Public Defender System. In the process, he alleges that an assistant St. Louis County prosecuting attorney threatened that if his client didn't plead guilty he would lose his law license. Goldblatt (pictured), of the Goldblatt Law Firm, plans to file an emergency writ of petition for habeas corpus with the Missouri Supreme Court today.

Tagged with: Bob McCulloch Missouri Supreme Court public defenders