![]() Linda Hukari, Marion County Circuit Court trial court administrator, said in a statement that the court planned to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the coming days. Downin as counsel for defendant, or, in the alternative, to show cause for not doing so” within the next two weeks. The Supreme Court’s one-page order states Judge Underwood is “commanded to vacate the order entered on April 10, 2023, appointing Mr. Downin, is required to take on a new case, the Court is compelling that attorney to violate their ethical duties by forcing them to expend their limited resources on one client at the expense of another, with neither client receiving the resources and time necessary for a proper constitutional defense,” the mandamus petition states. “As a result, every time a attorney, including Mr. ![]() The firm has 64% of the staff it needs to meet its current caseloads, the petition states. It states that, as with all of the public defenders in Wilson’s office, Downin lacks the capacity to take on more clients. On May 3, the Public Defender of Marion County made a mandamus petition to the Oregon Supreme Court. “Over the Public Defender of Marion County’s Objection, I am going to appoint Tim Downin to represent you,” Underwood told the defendant. Because of current caseloads, all attorneys at, including myself, are unable to provide constitutionally sufficient representation to new individuals facing criminal charges.”īut Underwood appointed one of Wilson’s lawyers to a criminal case anyway. “I am responsible for the ethical violations of those attorneys that I supervise and I must take remedial action. “I am notifying the court that we are at caseload and workload capacity,” Wilson told Pro Tem Judge Tiffany Underwood. At the same time, they argued they were also violating their client’s constitutional rights to effective legal counsel.īut judges in the county kept appointing clients, arguing that they have a constitutional obligation to ensure those charged with crimes who cannot afford a lawyer, get one.ĭuring a hearing on April 10 in Marion County, Shannon Wilson, the executive director for Public Defender of Marion County, a nonprofit public defense firm, objected to any new court-appointed clients. They argued their attorneys’ workloads are so excessive they were effectively violating their legal and ethical obligations as lawyers. Not only has the state violated the rights of defendants, the lack of attorneys has created challenges for prosecutors and crime victims.įor months, public defenders in Marion County have sought help from the courts to reduce their caseloads.įILE: Marion County Courthouse in Salem, Ore., May 19, 2021. ![]() That includes hundreds of people in jail and thousands more who are not in custody. For more than a year, Oregon has failed to meet the constitutional requirement to provide an attorney to everyone charged with a crime. Contact your local county law library to find the best access for you.Oregon’s public defense system is in turmoil. Some county law libraries have OJIN subscriptions. If you need copies of actual documents filed in a particular case, rather than just reading the docket entry, you might have to go to the courthouse file room or clerk's office anyway, so remote access will not save you a trip to the courthouse. Keep in mind that few full-text documents are in OJIN. It is not an easy database to use, due primarily to the fact that it was designed many decades ago for court staff and lawyers. You can search OJIN to see the activity that has occurred on a particular case (such as trial dates, documents that have been filed, etc.).įew if any public libraries will subscribe to OJIN. Some may only allow access to records filed in their particular county. If you have questions about a court's calendar, contact their calendering office.Īll Oregon County Circuit courts ( and most if not all county, justice, and municipal courts) allow free on-site ( in the courthouse ) access to OJIN (the Oregon Judicial Information Network, a database of docketing information for Oregon courts). You can also view customized calendars for each circuit court. ![]() You can search by court, party name, date, and/or attorney. ![]() The Oregon Judicial Department's Website has a court calendar search function. ![]()
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