By Bill Rankin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A murder defendant from Pike County has sat in jail for nearly four years without a trial --- not because of any problems with the evidence but because the state is seeking the death penalty and cannot pay for the man’s defense.
The case, argued Tuesday before the Georgia Supreme Court, could determine whether Georgia can afford the death penalty.
Jamie Ryan Weis, charged with killing a Pike County woman during a 2006 house burglary, did not have lawyers to defend him for more than two years because of money woes plaguing the state public defender system.
The murder suspect’s pretrial appeal contends that the charges against him should be dismissed or the state should not be allowed to seek the death penalty because Weis was denied his right to a speedy trial.
A trial set by Pike County Superior Court Judge Johnnie Caldwell for Weis in August would have been a sham, Atlanta lawyer Stephen Bright told the court’s justices on Tuesday. At that time, Weis had been deprived “the most fundamental right a defendant has” --- the right to counsel --- for 2 1/2 years, Bright said.
“The judge,” Bright told the justices, “might as well have said, ‘Show up in August and see if you can get nine people together and play the New York Yankees.’ It would have been just as fair. ... That’s no adversary system. That’s a joke.”
Pike County Assistant District Attorney Robert Smith asked the justices to deny the motion and send the case back for a death-penalty trial.
When Weis’ two lawyers asked the case to be continued until funding became available they became “an impediment to trial,” Smith said. The trial judge should have been able to appoint local public defenders to defend Weis and protect his right to a speedy trial, the prosecutor argued.
The state high court’s decision, expected next year, will set an important precedent.
Numerous death-penalty trials across the state have been delayed because there has been no money to pay defense lawyers, investigators, expert witnesses and mitigation specialists.
In recent weeks, the state Office of the Capital Defender has not had enough lawyers to fully defend all the approximately 70 death cases pending statewide. This includes two defendants charged in the July 26 slaying in Atlanta of former pro boxing champion Vernon Forrest.
Georgia court rules call for a capital defendant to be represented by two experienced attorneys.
But because of overwhelming caseloads, the capital defender office has been able to provide only one lawyer each for Charman Sinkfield and Jquante Crews, two of three men charged with Forrest’s murder.
The cases cannot move forward until each defendant has two lawyers, said Jerry Word, acting head of the capital defender office, Tuesday.
The defender office also has been able to provide only one lawyer to two capital defendants in Walton County and another in Richmond County, he said.
The overarching question at Tuesday’s arguments was who should be held responsible for the repeated delays in getting Weis’ case to trial.
After Weis was charged in February 2006 with the murder of Catherine King, Pike County prosecutors had to indict him on two occasions because they forgot to put the names of the grand jurors on the initial indictment, causing a six-month delay.
Once the district attorney announced he was seeking the death penalty, Weis was appointed two private attorneys because the state Office of the Capital Defender had too many cases for its state-salaried defenders.
The lawyers, Bob Citronberg and Tom West, asked for funds from the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council at a time when the case against courthouse killer Brian Nichols was almost single-handedly bankrupting the state defender system. The state wound up paying $2.3 million of Nichols’ total $3.2 million defense tab.
In April 2007, Weis’ lawyers were told there was no money to pay for expert witnesses. Weis suffers from schizophrenia and depression and has attempted suicide three times awaiting trial, Bright told the court.
“If ever there’s a case where you need experts, this is it,” he said.
Later, after the defender council agreed to pay $255,000 for Weis’ defense, there was still no money to pay lawyers or experts, Bright told the court Tuesday.
“There was not one cent to pay for the defense of Jamie Weis,” Bright said.
The court’s justices appeared well aware of the importance of the appeal.
Before Bright could begin his arguments Tuesday, Justice Hugh Thompson interjected, “Is this the case that will determine whether the state of Georgia can afford the death penalty or not afford the death penalty?”
“It’s closely related, your honor,” Bright replied.
Justice David Nahmias suggested that Weis’ lawyers could have been told to defend the case for free and be paid later when money was available.
Justice George Carley said he got some of his best experience decades ago as an appointed lawyer representing criminal defendants for free.
“Let’s have everybody work for free,” Bright suggested, listing the judge, the prosecutors and the defense attorneys. Put the money in an escrow account and divide it up among the participants when the case is over, he said.
It should not be the defense attorneys’ obligation to provide representation for free, Bright said. “It’s the responsibility of the state of Georgia --- the entire state of Georgia --- to provide representation.”
Smith, the Pike County prosecutor, told the justices that the District Attorney’s Office should not be held responsible for violating Weis’ right to a speedy trial when it has no control over funding for the defense. That’s the province of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, he said.
But Nahmias said he was not so sure. Both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Georgia Supreme Court have issued prior rulings holding the state responsible when an indigent criminal defendant is denied the right to counsel, he said.
Other murder cases have been delayed
In recent years, a number of high-profile death penalty cases have been delayed because there has been no money to pay for their defense.
Stacey Sims, charged with killing six people in Tift County in 2005, has had two sets of lawyers representing him withdraw from the case because they were not being paid. He was recently provided another set of lawyers from the state capital defender office.
Frank Ortegon Jr., accused of a murderous rampage that killed four people at a Forsyth County farmhouse in 2006, has had his case delayed because there was no money to pay his lawyers, prompting Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Bagley to declare a “constitutional crisis.” Only recently did the state public defender system make funds available for the defense.
Khan Dinh Phan, charged with killing a Lilburn man and his 2-year-old son in 2005, is also asking Georgia Supreme Court to either dismiss all charges against him or strike the prosecution’s motion to seek death because there has been no money to pay for the defense.
Copyright 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution