Louisiana Official Opens Probe of Court System

[Rose Siding]

Louisiana Atty. Gen. Charles C. Foti Jr. launched an investigation of the state's troubled indigent defense system Thursday, citing in particular New Orleans' plight since Hurricane Katrina.

Foti said he was opening the probe because of recent New Orleans court filings asserting the system was dysfunctional and because of "potential court rulings regarding the funding of indigent defense."

At a hearing Feb. 10 in New Orleans, Judge Arthur L. Hunter Jr. halted all publicly defended prosecutions in his section of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court......
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In an unusual formal policy statement Thursday, Hunter said it was "of utmost importance" that adequate funding be provided to New Orleans' indigent defense office "with deliberate speed … because the United States Constitution and the Louisiana Constitution guarantee the right to effective assistance of counsel to indigent persons."

In the statement, Hunter also said that if the Legislature did not act, the court might have to take drastic measures to protect the rights of indigent defendants. "This is a Hurricane Katrina issue, and it behooves the legislative branch, executive branch judicial branch … for the sake of the people of Louisiana, to resolve this constitutional crisis within the criminal justice system in New Orleans," he said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-indigent24feb24,1,490104.story?coll=la-headlines-nation