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Plight of the Indigent Accused in America - An Examination of Alternative Models for Providing Criminal Defense Services to the Poor, Volume 1 - Complete Descriptive Report

NCJ Number
98679
Date Published
Unknown
Length
508 pages
Annotation
This volume presents detailed program profiles and cost and docket data from a study of 12 counties' systems for providing private defense services to indigent accused persons.
Abstract
The counties were located in five States and operated a variety of systems, including a part-time defender system, a contract defender system, a coordinated assigned counsel system, and an ad hoc assigned counsed approach. Data came from site visits to 6 counties; interviews in 12 counties; and computer analysis of 2,400 court cases. The findings dealt with the cost implications of using private counsel in indigent defense systems, the relationship between cost and quality of service, assigned counsel fees, the determination of defendant eligibility and recoupment, and the way in which cases are processed in private bar indigent defense systems. Comparisons also focused on attorney performance and on the performance of the various systems. The effects of the existence of quality controls were also considered. Detailed findings and background information for the six sites visited, descriptive profiles for the other six sites, data tables, forms, and summary of study findings are included. For an executive summary of the study, see NCJ 98678. For a policymakers' report and a methodology description, see NCJ 98680-81