In theory, the criminal legal system is designed to find the truth of a matter. In reality, the legal system has been sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally constructed to be as efficient as possible while maintaining its institutional integrity. From plea deals to Executive Clemency, the legal system is often cruelly efficient at convicting the innocent and keeping the innocent looked in prison for decades. Why is that?

Today, Hunter sat down with Professor of Law, Daniel Medwed, to discuss his book Barred: Why the Innocent Can't Get Out of Prison to answer that question. At every step of the legal system, there are policies, procedures, and legal doctrines that work in concert to keep the innocent locked up as long as possible. Join us for a fascinating and frustrating examination of the legal machine that is so regularly disinterested in finding the truth and freeing the innocent.

Guest:

Daniel Medwed, Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law

Resources:

Buy Barred

https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/daniel-s-medwed/barred/9781541675902/

Follow Daniel Medwed on Twitter

https://twitter.com/danielmedwed?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Arizona v Youngblood

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/488/51/

West Virginia Law Review Article on Arizona v Youngblood

The Youngblood Success Stories: Overcoming the "Bad Faith" Destruction of Evidence Standard (wvu.edu)

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

More than 100 years ago, the first Public Defender Office opened in LA County thanks to the dedication and hard work of Clara Foltz. From that point on, the office grew into the largest office in the country. Today’s guest, Ricardo Garcia, is the current Chief Public Defender of the Office and responsible for figuring out how to unlock the potential of the office. On top of the massive geographic and population challenges of providing Public Defense to LA County, Ricardo must also battle with the well organized and funded police and prosecutorial machine in LA County and California writ large. To fully unlock the potential power of the office, Ricardo hopes empowered supervisors will be able to better engage with the media and local communities. In doing so, Ricardo hopes the community will then apply the pressure necessary to force political change.

Guest:

Ricardo Garcia, Chief Public Defender, Los Angeles County California

Resource

LA County Public Defender

https://pubdef.lacounty.gov/

LA County Public Defender Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/lapubdef/

LA County Public Defender Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/LACOUNTYPD/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Far too often, the injustices of our legal system go without media attention. This is exceptionally true when it comes to media coverage of the failings of Public Defense. Thankfully, there are a few intrepid investigative reports trying to bring to light the Public Defender Crisis. Today, I spoke with Emily Hamer, Investigative Reporter for Lee Enterprises’ Pubic Service Journalism, to discuss her coverage of the Public Defender crisis in Western States in the seven part series “Broken Defense”. As is so often the case, the severe limitations of Public Defender data collection make it so we only have a partial picture. Thankfully, the picture that Emily was able to paint with the resources available to her shows us enough to definitively state that Public Defense in Western states is failing.

Guest:

Emily Hamer, Investigative Reporter, Lee Enterprises’ Public Service Journalism

Resource

• Part 1: ‘Unconstitutional’ public defense systems upend lives, freedom across West 
• Part 2: Montana lawmakers examine public defense, ‘gap between reality and justice’ 
• Part 3: On the brink of ‘crisis’: Arizona’s public defense system hit hard with staffing shortages 
• Part 4: ‘America’s dirty little secret’: Thousands of misdemeanor defendants don’t get attorneys 
• Part 5: Staffing shortages, crushing workloads make public defenders’ jobs ‘impossible’ 
• Part 6: ‘Undue influence’: Public defenders work can be undermined by judges, local officials 
• Part 7: Upcoming ‘watershed’ moment in public defense could spark nationwide solutions 

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

When you hear the phrase “Bill of Rights”, you like envision the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution. You may conjure up the many individual liberties that are protected by that bill of rights as a way to limit the power of the government, but in some states, the government has its own bill of rights. Today on the show, Hunter spoke with three Public Defenders from the state of Delaware to discuss their law enforcement bill of rights. Kevin O’Connell, Misty Seemans, and Elliot Margules walk us through the history, implementation, and impacts of this quirky legal process that can make it exceedingly difficult for public defenders and even prosecutors to get their hands on evidence of police misconduct.

Guest:

Kevin O’Connell, Chief Public Defender, Delaware

Misty Seemans, Family Court Supervisor, Delaware

Elliot Margules, Special Litigation Attorney

Resources:

Delaware Public Defender

https://ods.delaware.gov/

Sixth Amendment Center Report on Delaware

https://sixthamendment.org/6ac/6AC_delawarereport.pdf

Delaware Call: Why we need access to police misconduct records in Delaware - PART I: The problem: How LEOBOR has kept police misconduct secret

https://delawarecall.com/2023/01/11/why-we-need-access-to-police-misconduct-records-in-delaware/

Delaware Call: Why we need access to police misconduct records in Delaware - PART II: The History: How the First State came to adopt LEOBOR

https://delawarecall.com/2023/01/30/why-we-need-access-to-police-misconduct-records-in-delaware-2/

Delaware Code: Delaware’s LEOBOR

 https://delcode.delaware.gov/title11/c092/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

60 years ago, Clarence Gideon changed the legal landscape of America forever. Thanks to his self-written petition to the Supreme Court, it was finally recognized at the federal level that any person charged with a felony who cannot afford to hire was entitled to one under the 6th Amendment. Soon, that right would be extended to a person facing any possibility of confinement, and thus, our modern understanding of Public Defense was born.

On today’s episode, Hunter spoke with to members of the Bronx defenders to reflect on the legacy of Gideon. Justine Olderman, Executive Director, and Wesley Caines, Chief of Staff, are part of the team at the Bronx Defenders trying to take the lessons from the past to drive new innovations in Public Defense. From the perspective of the attorneys and the formerly incarcerated, today’s episode attempts to look at the strategic end state Public Defense hopes to achieve and the what it will take to achieve it.

Guest:

Justine Olderman, Executive Director, Bronx Defenders

Wesley Caines, Chief of Staff, Bronx Defenders

Resource

Bronx Defenders

https://www.bronxdefenders.org/staff/justine-olderman/

Follow Wesley on Twitter

https://twitter.com/bm_mansamusa

Follow Justine on Twitter

https://twitter.com/jolderma

Inquest Series on Public Defense

https://inquest.org/tag/public-defenders/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Today, Hunter spoke with David Garlock, a formerly incarcerated and current criminal justice reformer, to discuss how David’s journey from victim, to prison, to life after prison has landed him advocating to end sex offender registries. As a child, David endured nearly a decade of child sexual abuse. Eventually, he and his brother sought revenge against the man who committed the acts, and they made the decision to murder that man. David and his brother would go on to be convicted of murder and spend a decade locked away in an Alabama prison. Following his prison time, David began working with those who committed sex crimes in an attempt to rehabilitate them. Given his experience, there are few people who can speak with such moral authority on the issue of the sex offender registry and in the efforts to move our system away from one with a bedrock of vengeance.

Guest:

David Garlock, Formerly Incarcerated and Criminal Justice Reformer

Resources:

David Garlock Website

https://www.davidlgarlock.com/

David Garlock on Twitter

https://twitter.com/davidleegarlock

National Association for Rational Sex Offender Laws

https://narsol.org/

NAPD 2023 National Conference Sign Up

https://nationalpublicdefensevirtua2021.sched.com/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

On today’s episode, Hunter spoke with Jon Lyon, the Investigator Resource Coordinator for the National Association for Public Defense, to talk all things investigator related. As Public Defense is focused on the practice of law, it makes sense that most of our conversations are lawyer centric, but part of the role of this show and of the NAPD is to remind everyone involved in Public Defense that it takes an entire team of people to represent someone. You may be the best lawyer on Earth, but if there is no one to assist you in collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, or chasing down leads, there are limits to what you can accomplish in the court room. For this reason, it is essential that we understand that without investigators, there is no Public Defense.

Guest:

Jon Lyon, Investigator Resource Coordinator, National Association for Public Defense

Resources:

NAPD Website

https://www.publicdefenders.us/

Lyon Legal Logistics

https://lyonlegallogistics.com/

Internet Sleuths

https://www.internetsleuth.net/

NAPD 2023 National Conference Sign Up

https://nationalpublicdefensevirtua2021.sched.com/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Previously on the show, Hunter spoke with Marea Beeman about the dangerous fines and fees that make “free” attorneys decidedly not “free”. Today, Hunter sat down with Priya Sarathy Jones, Deputy Executive Director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, to do an even deeper dive on the hidden costs that come with any interaction with the legal system. Since the Reagan administration, local communities, starved of federal support, began using the legal system to generate revenue. From that point on, more and more fees that have nothing to do with restitution to victims of crimes have been added to our legal system. As a result, a simple interaction with the legal system now carries a high risk of getting trapped in a cycle of poverty and debt.

Guest:

Priya Sarathy Jones, Deputy Executive Director, Fines and Fees Justice Center

Resources:

Fines and Fees Justice Center Website

https://finesandfeesjusticecenter.org/

NAPD 2023 National Conference Sign Up

https://nationalpublicdefensevirtua2021.sched.com/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Taking over a Public Defender System requires one to understand the greatest weaknesses of the system. For TaShun Bowden-Lewis, one of those is a sever lack of outreach from the Connecticut Office of the Public Defender Office. While it will not happen overnight, TaShun hopes that by achieving her three main goals she will be able to transform the state wide system into one that is at the forefront of reshaping public safety policy. From innovative ideas for external affairs to caring for the wellbeing of every Public Defender under her leadership, TaShun offers the state hope for a better model of Public Defense.

Guest:

TaShun Bowden Lewis, Chief Public Defender, Connecticut Office of the Public Defender

Resources:

Connecticut Office of the Public Defender

https://portal.ct.gov/OCPD

CT Public Defender on Twitter

https://twitter.com/ctpublicdfndrs

NAPD Conference Sign Up

https://napd2023riseresistrepresent.sched.com/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

After spending 18 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit, Anthony Graves hopes he can start a movement of getting more people with experience with the legal system involved in Public Defense. As the Director of Community Outreach for the Harris County Public Defender Office, Anthony is helping to bridge the gap between Public Defenders and the clients they represent. With crushing caseloads and minimal resources, Public Defenders cannot always provide the type of care that each of their clients need. While we may understand that this is more a product of a failing public defender system than the indifference of the attorney, the client only sees that their needs are not being met. From there, trust, with the client and the community, can easily erode. This is where Anthony steps in.

Few people know the needs of those currently accused of a crime quite like those who have spent time trapped in the legal system. Yet, many who serve as Public Defenders are unable to fully relate to the plight of their clients. With the help of Anthony and his Peer Navigators, Public Defenders can fill this critical knowledge gap and move one step closer to true holistic representation.

Guest:

Anthony Graves, Director of Community Outreach, Harris County Public Defender Office

Resources:

Harris County Public Defender Office

http://harriscountypublicdefender.org/

Anthony’s Website

https://www.anthonygraves.org/

Follow Anthony on Twitter

https://twitter.com/anthonycgraves?lang=en

Email Anthony

[email protected]

In Memorium of Jeff Blackburn

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/jeff-blackburn-obit-texas-attorney-tulia-drug-bust-17755009.php

NAPD Conference Sign Up

https://napd2023riseresistrepresent.sched.com/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com