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Pandemic pushes Oregon’s public defender system to the brink

Courtroom notes showing that a Washington County, Oregon judge threatened to hold Oregon Public Defense Services in contempt of court for not providing a public defender to a criminal defendant are seen in this May 4, 2022, photo. The defendant in this case is charged with rape, sodomy and other sexual crimes and was finally assigned a public defender this week after weeks without one, prompting the judge's action. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where an acute shortage of public defenders has even led judges to dismiss serious cases. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) Public defender Drew Flood with the nonprofit law firm Metropolitan Public Defender looks his files for the criminal cases he is currently working on in this May 5, 2022, photo in Portland, Ore. Flood, who was hired eight months ago by the firm, is carrying 100 cases and says he sometimes has so many cases he can't remember details such as what is in the client's police report or what plea deal is being offered. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where an acute shortage of public defenders has even led judges to dismiss serious cases. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) Carl Macpherson, executive director at Metropolitan Public Defender, examines the file in a double murder case that was recently pushed back for trial in his office in Portland, Ore., on May 5, 2022. Macpherson says his firm of 90 public defenders recently stopped taking certain types of new criminal cases for a month in two local courts because they had so many cases that the attorneys were violating their ethical obligations to clients. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where an acute shortage of public defenders has even led judges to dismiss serious cases. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) Public defender Drew Flood with the nonprofit law firm Metropolitan Public Defender looks his files for the criminal cases he is currently working on in this May 5, 2022 photo in Portland, Ore. Flood, who was hired eight months ago by the firm, is carrying 100 cases and says he sometimes has so many cases he can't remember details such as what is in the client's police report or what plea deal is being offered. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where an acute shortage of public defenders has even led judges to dismiss serious cases. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) Cassie Trahan, co-founder and executive director of A Village for One, poses with a filing cabinet full of cases of sexually exploited or abused teenage girls and young women at the nonprofit in Oregon City, Oregon in this May 4, 2022 photo. Trahan says case dismissals due to an acute shortage of public defenders in Oregon is affecting her clients' mental health as cases against their abusers stall. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where an acute shortage of public defenders has even led judges to dismiss serious cases. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) Cassie Trahan, co-founder and executive director of A Village for One, sits in her office at her nonprofit in Oregon City, Ore., in this May 4, 2022, photo. Trahan says case dismissals due to an acute shortage of public defenders in Oregon is affecting her clients' mental health as cases against their abusers stall. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where an acute shortage of public defenders has even led judges to dismiss serious cases. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) This undated photo provided by Alexis Green shows Renardo Mitchell is seen speaking with his partner on a video chat from inside the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland, Ore. Miller, 37, has been jailed for two years on charges of attempted murder and other felonies but chose to represent himself after he didn't hear from his public defender in five months. Miller's legal advisor died suddenly in February and he has been without any legal counsel since then as he awaits trial. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where there is an acute shortage of public defenders. (Alexis Green via AP) Cassie Trahan, left, co-founder and executive director of A Village for One, speaks with her colleague Ashley Purdy, program operations manager, at their nonprofit in Oregon City, Ore., in this May 4, 2022, photo. Trahan says case dismissals due to an acute shortage of public defenders in Oregon is affecting her clients' mental health as cases against their abusers stall. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where an acute shortage of public defenders has even led judges to dismiss serious cases. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) Courtroom notes showing that a Washington County, Ore., judge threatened to hold Oregon Public Defense Services in contempt of court for not providing a public defender to a criminal defendant are seen in this May 4, 2022, photo. The defendant in this case is charged with rape, sodomy and other sexual crimes and was finally assigned a public defender this week after weeks without one, prompting the judge's action. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where an acute shortage of public defenders has even led judges to dismiss serious cases. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) Cassie Trahan, co-founder and executive director of A Village for One, looks over clothing donations for the teenagers and young women who were sexually abuse or trafficked and who seek treatment at her nonprofit in Oregon City, Ore., on May 4, 2022. Trahan says case dismissals due to an acute shortage of public defenders in Oregon is affecting her clients' mental health as cases against their abusers stall. A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, where an acute shortage of public defenders has even led judges to dismiss serious cases. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)