FAYETTEVILLE — A federal lawsuit against a district judge in Benton County for failing to appoint lawyers for defendants at first appearance hearings should not be granted class action status, according to a response from public defenders Monday.
The federal lawsuit filed in July 2022 claims not appointing a lawyer to represent people who can’t afford to hire one in the earliest stages of a criminal case violates their constitutional rights.
The case was filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville by Doug Norwood and Alison Lee on behalf of Abigail Farella and Logan Murphy.
The lawsuit argues Farella and Murphy were both arrested on felony charges and given bail hearings before Benton County District Judge A.J. Anglin.
Both were found to be indigent but didn’t have attorneys appointed to represent them at their bail hearings. Both spent time in jail in lieu of bond.
A defendant who can’t afford a lawyer in a criminal case is deemed indigent; a judge must appoint a public defender or other attorney to represent him.
The dispute concerns when the defender must be appointed.
The lawsuit was later amended to add Jay Saxton, chief Benton County public defender, and Gregg Parrish, executive director of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission.
Parrish and Saxton have argued that as a result of how initial hearings are handled in Benton County and Anglin’s scheduling practice, the Benton County Public Defender’s Office doesn’t have enough public defenders to staff them. Further, the Benton County Public Defender’s Office cannot provide the relief requested in the lawsuit because the state is not a party to the lawsuit. It can’t hire additional state-funded attorneys to staff initial hearings in Anglin’s court without the Legislature creating and funding additional attorney positions, according to the response.
Parrish and Saxton filed a response Monday opposing class certification. They contend the plaintiffs’ arguments about the number of potential plaintiffs are conclusory and speculative and do not support class certification.
“They have offered neither direct nor circumstantial evidence of the number of potential class members, instead stating generally that the number is ‘very large,’” according to Monday’s filing. “Therefore, they have not fulfilled their burden to show that the class fulfills the numerosity requirement.”
Parrish and Saxton also argue that Farella and Murphy have not shown they are willing and able to take an active role in and control the litigation and to protect the interests of absentee class members.
Farella and Murphy are no longer pretrial detainees, and they waited 17 months after filing their original complaint to file a motion for class certification — a clear indication they are not adequate class representatives, according to Monday’s filing.
Anglin conducts about 25% of all probable cause/bail hearings in Benton County, including both felonies and misdemeanors, according to the motion for class certification. The number of cases he handles may run as high as 1,000 per year, according to the motion for class certification.
The motion argues class action is the only practical way of litigating the matter because the short time frame a case would be active doesn’t allow time to litigate them before they become moot.
“In other words, the indigents are arrested, taken before a judge for the bail hearing within 48 hours, the hearing is conducted and over with, long before anyone can intervene on their behalf,” according to the motion for class certification.
The motion seeks to have Norwood and Lee appointed class counsel.
All potential class members have exactly the same legal and factual claims and are seeking the same relief, according to the plaintiffs’ motion.
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Class action
A procedural device that permits one or more plaintiffs to file and prosecute a lawsuit on behalf of a larger group, or “class.”
Source: Cornell.edu