Chasing Gideon (40 page)

I received invaluable fellowships and grants from The Nation Investigative Fund, the John Jay College Center on Media, Crime and Justice, The Ford Foundation, The Latte Fund, and The Bridge Grant; so thanks to Esther Kaplan, Maurice Possley, Stephen Handelman, Cara Tabachnick, Fleur Edwards, Susan Breton, and Patricia Houppert for faith and funds. I was graciously housed and fed by fellow reporters and photographers—and a public defender—as I traveled around the country last year so thanks to
Sandra Lee Phipps, Russell Kaye, Wayne Curtis, and Louise Klaila for food, shelter, leads, backstories, fellowship, and cocktails. Ian and Barbara White-Thomson graciously lent me their Peaks Island seaside home for a two-week writer's retreat in January while Kathy Hanley and Will and Charles Winkleman provided respite and repast, ensuring that I didn't rattle around that “big ole house” all day writing nothing but “All work and no play makes Karen a dull girl.”

Jennifer Walker helped research the book and did extensive reporting on the death penalty and the public defense crisis in Miami. Thanks to David Everett at the Johns Hopkins University MA in Writing Program and Sven Birkerts and Victoria Clausi of Bennington Writing Seminars who allowed me flexibility in my teaching and writing schedules to complete this project. Laura Wexler turned me onto a perfect source who opened doors and recharged my investigation. Andrew Hsiao talked me off a cliff at a critical juncture. Betsy Reed and Esther Kaplan at
The Nation
performed their trademark precision surgery on excerpts first appearing in the magazine. Cabin Creek Films' producer Suzanne Mitchell, cinematographer Gary Griffin, and soundman George Ingmire filmed sections of
Chasing Gideon
in New Orleans and also helped with reporting.

Franny Forsman and David Carroll read sections of the manuscript, explained byzantine concepts and legal histories, and offered expert opinions and sources for me along the way. Debbie Lee and Peter Chilson, members of my writers' group, read and critiqued early drafts, offering valuable input. Wendy Williams did some pinch-hit editing. My mom, Patricia Houppert, proofread final copy and fact-checked every single proper noun in the book—a huge task that she took on around the edges of her full-time workday, so I thank her.

At New Press, my editor Diane Wachtell cracked the whip, keeping me focused and on schedule with her swift, thorough, and insightful comments as the manuscript progressed. Thanks also to Kianoosh Hashemzadeh, Jed Bickman, and the entire staff. Their passion and dedication for social justice issues is palpable, contagious, and always exciting to be a part of.

Thanks, finally, to my son, Zack, who sacrificed many a game of Contract Rummy so I could report and write, and to Steve Nunns, my reluctant yet trenchant critic.

1.
The public defense function, including the selection, funding, and payment of defense counsel, is independent.

2.
Where the caseload is sufficiently high, the public defense delivery system consists of both a defender office and the active participation of the private bar.

3.
Clients are screened for eligibility, and defense counsel is assigned and notified of appointment, as soon as feasible after clients' arrest, detention, or request for counsel.

4.
Defense counsel is provided sufficient time and a confidential space within which to meet with the client.

5.
Defense counsel's workload is controlled to permit the rendering of quality representation.

6.
Defense counsel's ability, training, and experience match the complexity of the case.

7.
The same attorney continuously represents the client until completion of the case.

8.
There is parity between defense counsel and the prosecution with respect to resources and defense counsel is included as an equal partner in the justice system.

9.
Defense counsel is provided with and required to attend continuing legal education.

10.
Defense counsel is supervised and systematically reviewed for quality and efficiency according to nationally and locally adopted standards.

 

I
NTRODUCTION

1.
Pew Center on the States, “One in 100: Behind Bars in America,” February 2008, p. 5.

2.
Michelle Alexander, “Go to Trial: Crash the Justice System,”
New York Times
, March 10, 2012.

C
HAPTER
1: D
UE
P
ROCESS
T
HEATER

1.
Spokane Police accident report dated October 31, 2001, p. 6.

2.
Material in this section is drawn from author interview with Judy Rodeen on January 11, 2001, and Judy Rodeen's witness statement to investigators, “Witness Statement, Judy Rodeen, February 2, 2002,” p. 1.

3.
Ibid.

4.
Witness statement at scene of accident, “Witness Statement, Yvonne Belcourt, February 18, 2002.”

5.
Spokane Police report dated October 21, 2001, p. 113.

6.
“Spokane Police/Sherriff Additional Report” dated October 31, 2001, and signed by Bryan Grenon, p. 1.

7.
“Spokane Police Department Statement of Investigating Officer—Affidavit of Facts, State of Washington, County of Spokane,” Report # 01-319110, p. 2.

8.
“Spokane Police Additional Report # 01-319110,” p. 2.

9.
Ibid.

10.
Center for the Study of Applied Legal Education, “Report on the 2007–2008 Survey,” 2008, p. 10.
www.csale.org/files/CSALE.07-08.Survey.Report.pdf
.

11.
Laurence A. Benner, “Eliminating Excessive Public Defender Workloads,”
Criminal Justice
, Summer 2011, pp. 25, 191.

12.
The Spangenberg Group for the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, “Keeping Defender Workloads Manageable,” January 2001, p. 7.

13.
National Right to Counsel Committee and the Constitution Project,
Justice Denied: America's Continuing Neglect of Our Constitutional Right to Counsel
, April 2009.
www.constitutionproject.org/pdf/139.pdf
.

14.
Ibid., p. 2.

15.
Ibid.

16.
Dan Gralike quoted in
Justice Denied
, which cites: Dan Gralike, “Living Double in a World of Trouble—The Indigent Criminal Defense Crisis in Missouri,”
ESQ
., June 3, 2005.

17.
Laurence A. Brenner, “Eliminating Excessive Public Defender Workloads,”
Criminal Justice
, Summer 2011, pp. 24, 190.

18.
Washington State Office of Public Defense, “2010 Status Report on Public Defense in Washington State,” January 2011, p. 5.

19.
Based on multiple in-person interviews with Carol Dee Huneke during November 2011 and statement submitted in the Superior Court of the State of Washington in and for the County of Spokane, dated March 1, 2004.

20.
Affidavit from David A. Carter submitted to Superior Court State of Washington in and for the County of Spokane, Document number 02-1-00721-1, February 27, 2004, p. 2.

21.
Affidavit from John Stine submitted to Superior Court State of Washington in and for the County of Spokane, Document number 02-1-00721-1, February 27, 2004, pp. 1–2.

22.
Affidavit from Kathleen Moran submitted to Superior Court State of Washington in and for the County of Spokane, Document number 02-1-00721-1, February 27, 2004, pp. 1–3.

23.
Affidavit from Carol Dee Huneke submitted to Superior Court State of Washington in and for the County of Spokane, Document number 02-1-00721-1, March 1, 2004, pp. 1–4.

24.
Kevin Blocker, “Judge Lays Down the Law to Attorney,”
Spokesman-Review
, March 2, 2004.

25.
Affidavit from Carol Dee Huneke, March 1, 2004, p. 4.

26.
Affidavit from Carol Dee Huneke, March 1, 2004, pp. 1–4.

27.
Ken Armstrong, Florangela Davila, and Justin Mayo, “For Some, Free Counsel Comes at a High Cost,”
Seattle Times
, April 4, 2004.

28.
Ibid.

29.
Complaint:
www.aclu-wa.org/sites/default/files/attachments/2004-04-05--GrantComplaint.pdf
.

30.
Ibid., p. 3.

31.
Officer Tom Sahlberg's accident report dated October 22, 2001 and attached diagram of accident.

32.
Memorandum from Joanne Moore, Washington State Office of Public Defense, February 3, 2010.

33.
Washington State Bar Association, “Suggested Standards for Indigent Defense.”
www.nlada.net/sites/default/files/wa_indigentdefensestandards_proposed_10312011.pdf
.

C
HAPTER
2: “I H
AVE
N
O
C
OUNSEL
”

1.
Anthony Lewis,
Gideon's Trumpet
. New York: Vintage Books/Random House, 1964, p. 4.

2.
Quoted in Lewis, pp. 9–10.

3.
U.S. Census Bureau, “Panama City (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau.”
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/1254700.html
.

4.
Quoted in Lewis, p. 10.

5.
Bruce R. Jacob, “Memories and Reflections About
Gideon v. Wainwright
,”
Stetson Law Review
, vol. 33, no. 181, 2003.

6.
From original copy of document dated October 16, 1961.

7.
David W. Rintels,
Gideon's Trumpet
, film, 1979.

8.
Quoted in “Gideon's Handwritten Response,”
Gideon v. Wainwright: A 40th Birthday Party
. Dade County Public Defender, Federal Public Defender, S.D. Florida, Federal Bar Association, South Florida Chapter, and Dade-Miami Criminal Justice Council, n.d.
www.rashkind.com/Gideon/petition4.htm
.

9.
Lewis, p. 4.

10.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.,
The Common Law
. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1881, p. 1.

11.
Quoted in Lewis, p. 43.

12.
Barron v. Baltimore
, 32 U.S. 243, Supreme Court, 1833.

13.
U.S. Constitution, Amendment XIV, § 1.

14.
“Ozie Powell, Willie Robertson, Andy Wright, and Olen Montgomery v. Alabama; Haywood Patterson v. same; Charley Weems and Clarence Norris v. same,” 287 U.S. 45, Supreme Court, 1932.

15.
Johnson v. Zerbst
, 304 U.S. 458, Supreme Court, 1938.

16.
Betts v. Brady
, 316 U.S. 455, 1942.

17.
Lewis, p. 53.

18.
Ibid.

19.
Wolfgang Saxon, “Carolyn Agger, 87, Lawyer and Widow of Justice Fortas,”
New York Times
, November 9, 1996.
www.nytimes.com/1996/11/09/us/carolyn-agger-87-lawyer-and-widow-of-justice-fortas.html
.

20.
Laura Kalman,
Abe Fortas: A Biography
. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990, p. 192.

21.
Adam Liptak, “John Hart Ely, a Constitutional Scholar, Is Dead at 64,”
New York Times
, October 27, 2003.
www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/us/john-hart-ely-a-constitutional-scholar-is-dead-at-64.html
.

22.
Information on Jacob primarily sourced from “Memories and Reflections About
Gideon v. Wainwright
.”

23.
Jacob, “Memories,” p. 218.

24.
Quoted in Lewis, p. 120.

25.
Quoted in Lewis, p. 152.

26.
Howard Ball,
Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior
. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 137.

27.
Bernard Schwartz, “Justice vs. Justice,” review of
Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior
, by Howard Ball,
New York Times
, October 15, 1989.

28.
All transcriptions from the Supreme Court oral arguments. See
Gideon v. Wainwright
, The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, October 21, 2012.
www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1962/1962_155
.

29.
U.S. Constitution, Amendment XIV, § 1.

30.
Ibid.

31.
Author interview with Bruce Jacob, November 3, 2011.

32.
Bruce Jacob, “Letters to the Editor,”
Harvard Law Record
, vol. 48, April 24, 1969.

33.
Gideon v. Wainwright
, 372 U.S. 335, 1963.

34.
Ibid.

35.
Ibid.

36.
Lewis, p. 287.

37.
See Lewis, p. 227.

38.
Jacob, “Memories,” p. 259.

39.
All transcriptions from the oral arguments. See
Gideon v. Wainwright
, 153 So. 2d 299, Fla, 1963.

40.
Lewis, p. 239.

41.
Quoted in Lewis, p. 70.

42.
Ibid, p. 74.

43.
Ibid, p. 81.

44.
See “Judge Joe Peel and the Chillingworth Murders,” Crime and Investigation Network.
www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/judge-joe-peel-and-the-chillingworth-murders/crime.html
.

45.
“Ex-Judge Who Plotted Murder of Other Judge Dies of Cancer,”
St. Petersburg Times
, July 5, 1982, p. 10.

46.
“Peel Placed in Maximum Security Cell,”
Ocala Star Banner
, August 9, 1963, p. 2.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19630809&id=JAcTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DAUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1284,1650710
.

47.
Author interview with Bruce Jacob, November 3, 2011.

C
HAPTER
3: A P
ERFECT
S
TORM