Phoenix attorney Mike Terribile has been representing convicted murderer Richard Rivas, but refuses to do any more work as the case enters the sentencing phase. The reason? Terribile says the flat fee he received from Maricopa County to handle the case is not enough to cover his costs. Terribile appealed the payment contract to a judge, saying he would refuse to prepare Rivas' defense if he was turned down, even if that meant being held in contempt and jailed himself.
As in many jurisdictions, the Maricopa County public defender's office simply can't handle all indigent cases, so the county contracts with private attorneys to handle the overflow. The county generally pays about $64,000 for a set of eight cases. Maricopa County administrator David Smith says that's plenty.
"If a case settles with just a few hours work, they [still] get the $8,000," Smith says. He says that there is a provision in the contract allowing for extra compensation if a case gets complicated, but notes that 97 percent of the cases in the county are plea bargained out. "We expect that it will all even out."
Terribile, who once chaired a statewide indigent-defense committee, says he hasn't taken on any more county cases in the past two years, and he's not alone in refusing the work. Inadequate defense is a major reason why the American Bar Association has called for a death penalty moratorium.
"You go to any death penalty state and start asking questions about counsel in those cases and, with very few exceptions, there are substantial problems," says Tye Hunter, of North Carolina's Indigent Defense Services Commission.
