Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 22 - CORRECTIONS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Part XV - Public Defender Board › Chapter 19 - Performance Standards for Criminal Defense Representation in Indigent Capital Cases › Section XV-1923 - Performance Standard 11: Supervision, Review and Consultation

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Supervision of
				the Defense Team
1. Primary responsibility
				for the supervision of the defense team and the teams compliance with these
				standards and the guidelines rests with lead counsel. Lead counsel shall
				establish a system for communication, feedback and supervision of the defense
				team that shall ensure that the team provides high quality representation and
				that any deficiencies in compliance with the guidelines or standards are
				promptly identified and remedied. Lead counsel should ensure that all team
				members are aware of their obligations under the guidelines and performance
				standards.
2. Primary
				responsibility for the supervision of experts rests with lead counsel, though
				this responsibility may be delegated to other counsel who are more directly
				responsible for working with a particular expert. Counsel supervising an expert
				shall ensure that appropriate funding is secured and maintained for the experts
				services, that the expert performs the requested services in a timely fashion
				and to a high quality and that the experts services are promptly invoiced and
				paid. By submitting an experts invoice to the office of the state defender for
				payment, counsel certifies that the work performed was reasonably necessary and
				that it was completed to an appropriate standard.
3. The case supervisor is responsible for
				monitoring the correct, effective and appropriate implementation of the capital
				guidelines and performance standards in each case. In contrast to the
				responsibilities of lead counsel to make strategic decisions in the case, this
				is an administrative level of supervision designed to ensure that the team is
				assembled and is functioning in accordance with the guidelines and standards.
				The case supervisor shall be certified as lead counsel and shall have a
				comprehensive knowledge of the requirements of the capital guidelines and
				performance standards. The case supervisor shall not be a staff member in the
				same office as members of the defense team or district defender of the district
				responsible for the case.
4. The
				case supervisor for each case shall meet with the defense team no less than
				once every three months and provide a quarterly report to the capital case
				coordinator in the form provided, advising of the extent to which the team and
				its representation are in compliance with the guidelines and
				standards.
5. The case supervisor
				is a lawyer engaged to consult with counsel on the defense team within
				lawyer-client privilege to assist in ensuring that each client is receiving
				high quality representation in compliance with the capital guidelines and
				performance standards. The case supervisor does not, by virtue of being case
				supervisor, have the authority to act on behalf of the defendant or to direct
				members of the defense team to take any action or refrain from taking any
				action. The case supervisor may make recommendations to the defense team,
				resolve workload questions pursuant to guideline
				§919 and report
				non-compliance with the guidelines to the district public defender and state
				public defender. All members of the defense team shall cooperate with the case
				supervisor and provide access to the case file and case theory documents as
				requested.
6. The state defender,
				district defender or director of a defender organization having an employment
				or contractual relationship with counsel on a defense team may exercise such
				supervisory and regulatory authority as is consistent with the
Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct
and provided for
				within that employment or contractual relationship. However, it shall remain at
				all times the responsibility of individual counsel to ensure that
				representation is provided in accordance with the capital guidelines and
				performance standards.
7. The
				capital case coordinator shall have responsibility for monitoring the
				performance of counsel and defender organizations providing capital
				representation in the state and reporting to the state defender. In performing
				this supervisory role, the capital case coordinator shall have particular
				regard to: the capital guidelines and performance standards; applications for
				certification and re-certification of counsel; quarterly reports submitted by
				case supervisors; requests for expert assistance by counsel; briefings from
				counsel following the closure of cases; findings and recommendations of case
				review committees formed under guideline §921(C); case observation; and
				other reliable sources of information.
8. Where the capital case coordinator becomes
				aware that a defense team is not providing representation consistent with these
				guidelines and associated performance standards, the capital case coordinator,
				shall take necessary action to protect the interests of the attorney's current
				and potential clients.