Involuntarily appointed attorneys must receive adequate compensation; DCA releases one lawyer from his case, but affirms judges' ability to make appointments.

Judges have the authority to involuntarily appoint lawyers to represent criminal defendants, but those attorneys must be adequately compensated and the appointment must not jeopardize representation of the attorneys' other clients.

The Second District Court of Appeal made those findings in allowing Bradenton attorney Gregory Hagopian to withdraw from a mandated representation he said could harm his existing clients and bankrupt him because of the state's stingy compensation schedule and payment policies.

The opinion released August 12 temporarily left Terry Green , one of 12 people charged with a gang-related RICO case brought by the statewide prosecutor, without an attorney.

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"[T]he undisputed evidence established that the involuntary appointment to Mr. Green's case would make it impossible for Mr. Hagopian to handle the legal business of his existing clients and provide them with competent representation. Such derelictions by Mr. Hagopian would result in the violation of [several Bar] rules ... ," the court said. "Under these circumstances, Mr. Hagopian established good cause for moving to withdraw from Mr. Green's case."

The court went on to say that Hagopian was further justified because accepting the case threatened to bankrupt his solo practice.

"We take it as a given that the circuit court has the power to make involuntary appointments of members of The Florida Bar to represent indigent persons in criminal prosecutions. See In re Amendments, 573 So. 2d at 804-5. However, counsel for the accused is entitled to receive reasonable compensation," said the opinion written by Judge Douglas A. Wallace.

"I'm definitely relieved by it and impressed by the detail that the court went into," Hagopian said of the ruling. "You can tell they put a lot of thought and effort into this opinion."

What's the Problem?

Hagopian said the problem lies not with judges who are forced to draft lawyers to represent indigent clients, but with the Legislature's adoption of an inadequate compensation scheme which has driven private lawyers away from accepting such cases.

"Hopefully, this opinion will be cited throughout the state ... and maybe force the Legislature to reconsider the funding," Hagopian added. "Hopefully, this will prevent people like myself and others being forced to work for free because the Legislature has chosen not to fund indigent representation."

"It's a positive opinion for lawyers in general. I'm heartened by that," said Tampa attorney Todd Foster. He, along with Kevin Beck, represented Green pro bono on the appeal, although they do not represent him on the underlying criminal charge.

They had asked the appeal court to dismiss the charges against Green, saying he effectively was not represented by counsel, but the appellate court denied that, declaring that issue was not before it.

"It doesn't supply any relief to our client, Terry Green, but I think that will come in the trial court," Foster said. He said the mere delay in finding counsel for Green may justify dismissing the criminal charges against him. Currently, Green is serving a sentence on an unrelated charge, and the RICO case has been put on hold while the representation issue is decided in court.

"The fact that he's in jail on an unrelated case doesn't entirely remove the prejudice," Foster said. "The passage of time is frequently a detriment to criminal defendants.... We think he's been substantially harmed."

Hagopian praised the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which through attorneys Ted Doss and Sonya Rudenstine, represented him on appeal. Rudenstine said the court's opinion is an important milestone in...