Opinion ID: 1611086
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Facts Pertinent To Funding And Representation In This Case

Text: With this jurisprudential review in mind, we turn to the facts pertinent to the issues raised in these assignments of error. The record shows that the Calcasieu Parish grand jury indicted Reeves on December 13, 2001. The district court determined that the defendant was indigent and the Calcasieu Parish Public Defender's Office was appointed to represent him. At arraignment, the Chief Public Defender of the parish, Ronald Ware, tendered a plea of not guilty on Reeves' behalf. [15] At that time, Ware informed the court that attorney David Ritchie would serve as co-counsel. [16] For several months, from January through March, 2002, Ware and Ritchie represented the defendant, filing preliminary discovery motions and appearing on his behalf at hearings. [17] Thereafter, the Calcasieu Parish Public Defender's Office, through the parish's Indigent Defender Board, contracted with attorney Kerry Cuccia of the Capital Defense Project of Southeast Louisiana (Capital Defense Project), and members of his staff, to represent Reeves in his capital trial. [18] According to documents filed later under seal, the original contract contemplated that the Capital Defense Project would be paid by the parish's Public Defender's Office/Indigent Defender Board the amounts of $50,000 for attorney fees and $25,000 for expert witness fees. The amount agreed upon for expert witness fees was subsequently raised by an additional $10,000, to a total of $35,000. Reeves' first trial, with Cuccia, Graham da Ponte and Hilary Taylor acting as counsel, and presided over by Judge Quienalty, began with jury selection on October 27, 2003 and ended on November 9, 2003, when a mistrial was declared due to the jury's inability to reach a unanimous verdict on guilt. [19] After the trial, by letter dated November 25, 2003, Cuccia informed Ware that the defense of Reeves had been more costly than anticipated. [20] Although the local Public Defender's Office/Indigent Defender Board provided a total of $85,000 for Reeves' defense in the first trial, as agreed upon, the actual cost was $120,537.08. In requesting reimbursement of the overage from Ware, Cuccia included a breakdown of the actual costs. None of the total amount requested included attorney fees. However, the attorneys who participated in Reeves' defense sought reimbursement from the Public Defender's Office/Indigent Defender Board of expenses, specifically mileage, lodging, meals and unspecified other expenses. In addition, the itemization of costs from the first trial reflected that the total amount requested for the overage also consisted of fees for expert witnesses, fees for general and mitigation investigation, and litigation expenses. On January 7, 2004, soon after Cuccia's request to Ware for reimbursement, the district court set a new trial date of June 14, 2004. The district court also set motion dates for the retrial, and ordered that Cuccia and da Ponte be notified. The defense subsequently filed several motions addressing the funding issues which had arisen. [21] On February 18, 2004, defense counsel and the state participated in a telephone conference with Judge Canaday, the judge now presiding over the matter. A minute entry of February 19, 2004 reflects that Cuccia agreed to submit to the court an ex parte itemized statement of expenses from the first trial. By letter dated February 19, 2004, Cuccia submitted to the court, under seal, an itemization of expenses and expenditures from the first trial, reflecting a balance owed the Capital Defense Project of $35,537.08. Cuccia also submitted, under seal, an estimate of $19,000 needed immediately for expert witnesses to begin work on the upcoming retrial, with a total estimate of $108,000 for both attorney expenses and expert witness fees for the retrial. None of the estimated cost of the retrial included an amount for attorneys' fees; the Capital Defense Project attorneys only estimated reimbursement of anticipated expenses. On March 8, 2004, Cuccia filed a Motion to Stay Proceedings For Lack Of Funds to Provide A Competent Defense, asserting that the defense was unable to prepare for trial scheduled to begin on June 14, 2004. [22] In the motion, Cuccia asserted that counsel could not prepare and present a competent defense for Reeves due to the facts that: (1) the defense was owed a significant amount of money for unpaid expenses from the first trial, and (2) had received no money with which to fund the retrial. With regard to the unpaid expenses from the first trial, Cuccia maintained that the defense had been assured that all expenses would be paid by the Calcasieu Parish Public Defender's Office. However, the defense was now informed that no funds existed for reimbursement from that source. With regard to the money for retrial, Cuccia acknowledged in the motion apparently behind-the-scenes efforts of the district judge to obtain funds, but maintained that the defense had no money to proceed. Due to this state of affairs, Cuccia moved to stay the proceedings. Exhibits to the motion were filed under seal.