Justices: State council must pay lawyers

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday agreed the state public defender council should be found in contempt for refusing to pay lawyers in a death penalty case.

In a unanimous decision, the court found that the cash-strapped Georgia Public Defender Standards Council must pay $68,946 to Augusta lawyers Michael Garrett and Randolph Frails for defending Willie Palmer.

Two years ago, Palmer was sentenced to death for the September 1995 slayings of his estranged wife and his 15-year-old stepdaughter.

Palmer initially was sentenced to death in 1997 for the murders. But a new trial was ordered in March 2005. That year, the defender council began operating and appointed Garrett and Frails to represent Palmer at retrial.

The council ultimately took the position that because Palmer was indicted before the council was created, it was Burke County’s obligation —- not the state’s —- to pay Palmer’s defense.

On Monday, the state Supreme Court disagreed. It upheld Burke County Superior Court Judge William Fleming Jr.’s decision to hold the council in contempt and ordered the fees to be paid.

The Palmer case and another fee dispute argued Monday add to the defender council’s financial travails.

In recent years, it has seen its budget steadily cut, even though a special fee created to fund the system has collected more money than the council says it needs.

Conyers lawyer Gary Washington told the state Supreme Court on Monday that the council abruptly removed him in 2007 as Cody Buchanan’s lawyer to save money. At the time, Buchanan was charged with murder and more than a dozen other counts in Carroll County.

Washington protested his removal and won reinstatement. Buchanan later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, with all other counts dismissed. Washington then moved to force the defender council to pay his bills.

When the state attorney general’s office argued on the council’s behalf, Washington protested that as well. He obtained a Carroll County judge’s ruling that it is a conflict of interest for the attorney general’s office to be representing the defender council when it also represents the state in certain criminal cases.

Senior assistant Attorney General Stefan Ritter told justices that there was no conflict of interest. He also said if the council has to pay for private attorneys to represent it, “what a financial disaster that would be.”

The court is expected to decide the issue in the coming months.