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Judge imposes $1,300 fine on unpaid court-appointed lawyer for refusing to try case

In the latest firefight related to an action-packed dispute between a Mississippi judge and a local public defender, a private attorney appointed by the court to represent an indigent defendant has been held in contempt for refusing to try his client’s case and fined $1,300.

Saying that he is not being paid for his work, is unlikely to be paid unless he sues and might not get reimbursement even then, attorney Randy Harris sought to withdraw from defending the child-pornography case. However, Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill refused to grant the motion and ordered Harris to take the case to trial.

When Harris then did not proceed with the scheduled July trial for Cameron Travelstead, the judge held Harris in contempt. In a Tuesday order, Weill fined Harris $100 for violating his order and another $1,200 to cover the cost of the jury, reports the Clarion-Ledger. However, some observers have pointed out that other jury trials were scheduled, so the Travelstead jury pool could have been put to work on another case.

Underlying the contempt case against Harris is a dispute between Weill and an assistant Hinds County public defender. Contending that she had acted unprofessionally, Weill refused to let Alison Kelly try cases in his court. He appointed private attorneys to handle indigent defense when the PD’s office refused to substitute another attorney.

In May, the state supreme court issued an en banc ruling. It said Weill had exceeded his authority in trying to tell the PD’s office what to do but declined to recuse him from the 55 cases at issue, as the PD’s office had requested.

The supreme court said defendants in the 55 cases should be given their choice of whether to continue with their court-appointed counsel or go back to the public defender’s office. However, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, which had been paying for private defense lawyers prior to the supreme court’s ruling, has since refused to do so, the newspaper reports.

“The other attorneys who have also been refused payment did not know that the board would refuse their claims when they agreed to dispose of their cases. Attorney Harris knows by utterance of the Board of Supervisors as late as July 10 that any bills he submits will not be paid,” said Harris in his withdrawal motion.

At best, he will have to sue to get paid and, if a court upholds the supervisors’ position, he will not get paid even if he does sue, Harris said. Meanwhile, following the state supreme court ruling, the public defender’s office is not only authorized but eager to take on his workload.

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: “PD’s office asks state’s top court to tell judge not to transfer cases to private counsel”

ABAJournal.com: “Mississippi high court orders judge and PD to ‘make nice’”