Moreau says defense funds not needed
By MARK BALLARD
Capitol news bureau
Baton Rouge prosecutor Doug Moreau is calling on lawmakers not to support an effort to provide state funding for public defenders in Louisiana.
Moreau says taxpayers should not subsidize the legal representation of poor people accused of crimes.
He said in an interview that the Founding Fathers organized the American criminal justice system to give defendants an edge over the government.
"That's why, when it is big government against the little guy, we have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," Moreau said.
An accused individual, who is presumed innocent until proven guilty, has to show only that the prosecution failed to meet that burden.
Moreau, as district attorney for the 19th Judicial District, runs the state's second-busiest prosecutor's office.
He is the first prosecutor to speak out against changing the public-defender system.
The Legislature has charged the Indigent Defense Task Force with overhauling the way Louisiana appoints lawyers for criminal defendants who cannot afford counsel. The task force also has the job of figuring out how to pay the estimated $55 million annual tab.
Much of that money is likely to come from law enforcement sources.
The task force plans to take up funding issues at its next meeting on Dec. 8.
Public defenders represent people charged with crimes who are unable to pay for their legal defense.
In Louisiana, local jurisdictions contribute the bulk of the money for public defenders. In the other 49 states, public defenders rely on state budget appropriations.
District attorneys around the state have generally, although not enthusiastically, supported the committee's work. Promoters of a revamped indigent defense system agree that the support of prosecutors is crucial to adopting the legislation necessary to revamp the system.
Moreau is critical of the direction the task force is taking.
"There's an agenda that they're not talking about … and that's their effort to institutionalize the defense side of the case," Moreau said. "They don't want to represent indigent defendants as much as they want the money."
Task force chairwoman Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport, did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment on Moreau's remarks.
Edward R. Greenlee is director of the Louisiana Indigent Defense Assistance Board in New Orleans and a member of the task force assigned to finding money.
He said that while Moreau is an influential voice among the state's prosecutors, on this issue Moreau "is out of touch with the mainstream."
The state's system for assigning lawyers to represent poor people accused of crimes has been challenged in court. Critics say it is so underfunded and so unorganized as to be unconstitutional.
State government this year has budgeted $9.7 million for indigent defense. But Louisiana -- alone in the nation -- depends on local governments to pay most of the cost.
Each of the state's 41 judicial districts account for that money in 41 ways. Combined statewide, state and local government agencies spend a reported $32 million per year.
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