Berkeley County public defender's office may close for 2 months

Brad Nettles // The Post and Courier

Berkeley County Public Defender Patricia Kennedy (right), with Assistant Solicitor Ashley Cornwell, said trial delays would have prisoners “stacking up” in already overcrowded jails.

MONCKS CORNER -- State budget cuts could force the Berkeley County public defender's office to close for two months this summer.

"It would create a crisis," said Circuit Public Defender Ashley Pennington, who oversees Berkeley and Charleston counties.

"The docket becomes backed up. Victims can't get their cases heard. There would be hundreds of people in jail."

Berkeley County Detention Center Director Cliff McElvogue said he hopes it doesn't happen.

"That would really hurt us," he said. "It would cripple us. It would just be a disaster."

Public defenders represent clients charged with criminal offenses who can't afford to hire a lawyer. The first step is to try to get clients out on bail, although many can't afford even the lowest bond.

Public defenders also try to work out plea bargains. It may seem like criminals are getting a break, but the jails couldn't handle all the inmates and the courts couldn't handle all the trials otherwise, according to Chief Berkeley County Public Defender Patricia Kennedy.

"Part of what we do is try to make sure that cases that can be resolved and disposed of fairly quickly, get done and either get those people out of jail on probation or into the Department of Corrections," Kennedy said.

"In a situation where the jail already is overcrowded, they would literally be stacking up. ... The longer they stay in jail, the more money it costs the county."

Prosecutors agree to plea bargains when there doesn't appear to be enough evidence for a conviction at a trial or when the crime is not severe, the defendant doesn't have a serious prior history, and the victim agrees to it, 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said.

"If we don't give some defendants in some cases an incentive to plead guilty, there would be no reason for them not to take their chances and demand a trial," Wilson said. "That would leave roughly 3,000 cases to try in 17 weeks of court in Berkeley County alone."

Courts aim to get most cases moved within six months of arrest, Pennington said. No court in the state is meeting that goal, but the backlog is not as bad as it was three years ago, he said.

The Constitution requires everybody to have an attorney regardless of ability to pay, according to the Supreme Court. That being the case, public defenders keep the legal system moving.

"I think there is the misconception that having us in place is somehow an indication of leniency, whereas in fact it's one of the constitutional prerequisites to be able to prosecute," Pennington said.

Pennington made his case Feb. 28 before Berkeley County Council. He said the state has cut the county office's budget by $139,000 over the past two years, the five attorneys in the office are already handling all the work they can, and closing the office for two months would be better than laying off two attorneys.

Council didn't make him any promises. Several members said it was Columbia's problem.

"We cannot be expected to carry the water for everybody else," Councilman Caldwell Pinckney said.