Madison County Chief Judge Bill Mudge asked the Judiciary Committee to approve hiring a full-time special defender to handle post conviction petitions as current special defenders are stretched thin with murder trials.
During the Sept. 3 meeting, Mudge made a “plea seeking your support for a special defender position that would be assigned solely for post-conviction matters.”
“Special defenders play a critical role in our judicial system,” Mudge said.
“They are often overlooked,” he added.
He said Chief Criminal Judge Kyle Napp called it a “Code Red situation” with approximately 50 post conviction petitions pending.
Mudge said the matters are primarily assigned to two special defenders, one of which has tried two murder cases so far this year. Mudge said he was told by one of them, “I can’t take anymore post convictions or I’m going to quit. I’ve got too much on my plate with murder cases.”
Mudge suggested they add the position under the umbrella of either the Public Defender’s Office or the Circuit Clerk’s Office with a salary range of $60,000 to $80,000.
Committee member Mike Babcock asked how many post convictions does the county normally have at a time. Mudge said he suspects the 50 pending matters is a typical representation.
“It’s not a COVID number,” he said.
“These are folks that have been convicted,” he added. “They’re in prison. They’ve got nothing else better to do but to file a pro se petition for post conviction relief.”
Public Defender Mary Copeland explained that prisoners refuse counsel and choose to defend themselves pro se. Then they file post conviction petitions, requiring special defenders to go through the whole file and find all the mistakes made by the pro se defendant.
She added that it is a good system, but post conviction petitions are “extremely burdensome.”
Mudge said they are obligated to award them counsel when they seek post conviction relief, but the Public Defender’s Office is oftentimes conflicted. A special defender would then be appointed. He said the public defenders are burnt out.
Babcock asked for clarification on a post conviction petition.
Copeland explained that it is different than an appeal, which involves elements from a trial and is handled by the appellate court. She said post conviction petitions allege constitutional violations and go through the state court.
Babcock asked how much money they have left in their budgets for a special defender.
Mudge responded that they don’t have enough to cover what is needed. He added that other circuits are appointing private counsel to handle the cases, which would cost approximately $125,000 for the currently pending petitions.
Babcock also asked how long they would need the special public defender.
Mudge said the need would be ongoing because the current caseload is a normal representation.
“These folks on their own make these requests,” he said. “That triggers an obligation on our part to give them counsel.”
Mudge said he expressed the need for a special public defender in light of Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine’s request for additional staff to handle the backlog of cases due to COVID-19 delays. Committee Chair Mike Walters suggested Mudge put the request in the budget, saying his request is not tied to Haine’s request.
“If you need this, you should ask for it,” he said.