ID - 4 Univ of Idaho Students Murdered - Bryan Kohberger Arrested - Moscow # 70

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SRWCF said:
Agreed! And while it may have not been immediately obvious that Xana was the daughter of one of AT's clients, Mogen (Maddie) is not a common last name so I'm sure that particular relationship (AT once representing MM's dad) was looked into right away.
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Every law office has a client intake process that must include a check for conflicts of interest. I keep saying the Idaho PD MUST have resolved this before appointing AT, in part because this is such a standard practice. I would be shocked if their system didn't pull up and throughly examine the last names of the murder victims. Failure to do this would be malpractice. It would shake my confidence in the PD organization in Idaho.
 
NCWatcher said:
If a conflict exists, if the entire office has it, then does that mean if BK had to be given another attorney the state would have to pay a private attorney? I know AT is the only PD in northern Idaho but even if there was another one or someone could be made to drive incredible distances from some other part of the state, it sounds like that couldn't work. Or is "the entire office" defined differently here to not mean statewide?
JMO
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I found some references that seem to say there’s a cap on compensation for appointed attorneys, but I’m not a legal person. Maybe someone can dig in?

CJA Compensation Pay Rate​

Updated on Jan 10, 2023

The hourly CJA panel attorney compensation rate is $164 for in-court and out-of-court time for non-capital work. This hourly rate applies to work performed on or after January 1, 2023. For additional information regarding CJA compensation, refer to the CJA Manual.

For work performed after January 1, 2023, the presumptive rate of compensation for counsel appointed to death penalty cases under 21 U.S.C. § 848(q) and 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(2)(B) shall be $210 per hour.

U.S. Courts, District of Idaho

The U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court, District of Idaho is part of the 9th Circuit and serves the entire state of Idaho.
id.uscourts.gov id.uscourts.gov

Idaho Criminal Justice Manual

 
CGray123 said:
The Public Defense Commission met today and discussed pending cases in executive session. I believe they took no action of any kind on BK's case. If nothing happens by Monday (no withdrawal of PD representation, no motion to disqualify the PD by the DA, no action sue sponte by the court to consider the issue) I think it will be reasonable to consider the COI matter closed as far as these proceedings are concerned. Not as an issue of public discussion but as a legal matter.
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Here is the agenda for today's meeting. They went into executive session to discuss pending litigation with legal counsel. IMO this does not have to do with the quadraple murder case, but some sort of litigation that the PDC is involved with directly....IMO.
 
Waddles said:
Is this not an extraordinarily bizarre coincidence?!
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Could be, but this seems to be more meaningful IMO than mere coincidence. I tend to see it as synchronicity. Of the broad meaning:an apparently meaningful coincidence in time of two or more similar or identical events that are causally unrelated. I take it as a sign. It's looking like COI to me and BK needs a new attorney.
 
steeltowngirl said:
I found some references that seem to say there’s a cap on compensation for appointed attorneys, but I’m not a legal person. Maybe someone can dig in?

CJA Compensation Pay Rate​

Updated on Jan 10, 2023

The hourly CJA panel attorney compensation rate is $164 for in-court and out-of-court time for non-capital work. This hourly rate applies to work performed on or after January 1, 2023. For additional information regarding CJA compensation, refer to the CJA Manual.

For work performed after January 1, 2023, the presumptive rate of compensation for counsel appointed to death penalty cases under 21 U.S.C. § 848(q) and 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(2)(B) shall be $210 per hour.

U.S. Courts, District of Idaho

The U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court, District of Idaho is part of the 9th Circuit and serves the entire state of Idaho.
id.uscourts.gov id.uscourts.gov

Idaho Criminal Justice Manual

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That is for federal court
 
Moriarty said:
Well, it's possible I suppose, but BK would have to raise this concern in the trial itself and not afterwards, as per State v. Severson, 147 Idaho 694, 215 P.3d 414 (Idaho 2009). And if he does raise it, then there would be a separate inquiry trial to look into COI allegations.

IMO the prosecutor is far more likely to raise this concern than BK. However, I also think there is no real conflict here, and nothing that AT could bring from representing CN in her criminal charges would impact her defense of BK that could not be also raised by any defense lawyer.
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The problem for the defendant's attorney arises when the defendant wants to explore alternate theories and ask his attorney to start investigating the parent(s) of one of the victims and their involvement with drugs. The defendant may want to look at whether some drug dealers had motive to hurt the family of someone who stole/snitched/etc against said drug dealer.

Is his current attorney in a position to tell her investigators to go investigate her former clients? Does the attorney have to withhold information from the client or their investigator because she obtained that information through her former representation of the person her client wants investigated? To do so she would have to get the previous client's waiver to divulge that information to the new client. IMO....not sure the victim's parents would waive attorney confidences so the attorney could vigorously represent the person accused of killing their child.

Now perhaps the defendant's attorney has not thought about this potential angle, but as soon as the defendant hears that any of the victim's family was involved with drugs in anyway, they have a right to ask their attorney to investigate this for their case. If an attorney's previous representations hinder that in any way, there is a serious conflict issue that will stick to this case like gum on the bottom of a shoe...IMO.
 
Dotta said:
Im not sure as Im not a lawyer but...

As a public defender the person does not choose/drop clients but is assigned by a boss to cases, no?

The person works where is needed most.

JMO
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This absolutely should have been caught by the head PD. Conflicts of interest happen all the time, but this was definitely avoidable.
 
Cassady said:

Here is the agenda for today's meeting. They went into executive session to discuss pending litigation with legal counsel. IMO this does not have to do with the quadraple murder case, but some sort of litigation that the PDC is involved with directly....IMO.
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The agenda item is broadly stated, so you're right - it likely included (but probably isn't limited to) the civil case of Tucker v State of Idaho, a longstanding case about funding adequacy for the state's PD system, to which the PDC is a legally necessary party. The claim by the ACLU is that underfunding is so severe that proper defense is impossible, and this denies all the agency's clients their rights to a defense under the US Constitution.

Only the Idaho legislature can increase funding, and I don't see that happening during BK's case. Makes me wonder if this will be among his appealable issues. It certainly dwarfs the COI concern. MOO.
 
SRWCF said:
I'm baffled that people even think there is a conflict of interest. Does everyone really believe that Idaho law was not followed and that the prosecution is doing whatever they want? Seems to me the only people up in arms over this is the public and those in the media. Where are BCK's parents and siblings on this? If there truly is a conflict of interest (I don't think there is), then they are the ones that should be upset and demanding a change in attorneys for their son. MOO.
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Yes, I haven't seen any indication that there is a conflict of interest. I doubt Xana's mom has given the attorney confidential information about the case. Anything she knows she's probably learned from the media. Having a daughter in the same school as the defendant doesn't mean there is a connection between BK and the victims. Imo
 
mooseandcoffee said:
When my husband was a PD, the entire office could be "conflicted off" of a case because of a conflict of interest for one attorney. A private attorney from the PD assignment list would be chosen to serve as council instead.
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How was a conflict of interests defined in those cases, Moose?
 
CGray123 said:
The agenda item is broadly stated, so you're right - it likely included (but probably isn't limited to) the civil case of Tucker v State of Idaho, a longstanding case about funding adequacy for the state's PD system, to which the PDC is a legally necessary party. The claim by the ACLU is that underfunding is so severe that proper defense is impossible, and this denies all the agency's clients their rights to a defense under the US Constitution.

Only the Idaho legislature can increase funding, and I don't see that happening during BK's case. Makes me wonder if this will be among his appealable issues. It certainly dwarfs the COI concern. MOO.
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IMO...the funding issues can be directly tied to the COI issues. Conflict cases cost the PDC alot of money each year and that is money that is beyond budgets for each district and offices within that district. Funding also impacts the ability to retain attorneys in the PD system, especially in rural areas. For cases like this you need experience, DP qualified attorneys. Idaho only has 13, which may be enough to handle the number of DP cases that are litigated each year. However, with better funding, Idaho would have more DP qualified attorneys in the panhandle, which would be helpful in this situation as the current attorney is the only DP qualified attorney in the pandhandle and this is why she is assigned the case dispite the potential obvious conflict...IMO
 
PrairieWind said:
This is just my opinion, but I think it is increasingly unlikely that the prosecutor will seek a death penalty in this case.
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IMO....if there is any DNA evidence belonging to the victims or the dogs found at the defendant's apartment or in his automobile, there is a good chance this case might be settled before the preliminary hearing...IMO
 
Cassady said:
The problem for the defendant's attorney arises when the defendant wants to explore alternate theories and ask his attorney to start investigating the parent(s) of one of the victims and their involvement with drugs. The defendant may want to look at whether some drug dealers had motive to hurt the family of someone who stole/snitched/etc against said drug dealer.

Is his current attorney in a position to tell her investigators to go investigate her former clients? Does the attorney have to withhold information from the client or their investigator because she obtained that information through her former representation of the person her client wants investigated? To do so she would have to get the previous client's waiver to divulge that information to the new client. IMO....not sure the victim's parents would waive attorney confidences so the attorney could vigorously represent the person accused of killing their child.

Now perhaps the defendant's attorney has not thought about this potential angle, but as soon as the defendant hears that any of the victim's family was involved with drugs in anyway, they have a right to ask their attorney to investigate this for their case. If an attorney's previous representations hinder that in any way, there is a serious conflict issue that will stick to this case like gum on the bottom of a shoe...IMO.
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Respectfully, this to me is a hypothetical conflict that you have explained very well. But it seems to me the existence of an actual conflict that could affect BK's representation can only be determined if one knows the content of communications between CK (CN) and AT (or any other PD staffer). That's not something we're likely to know, since it's in an attorney client communication and CK would have no interest in disclosing, for example, that she wants to negotiate for leniency in exchange for turning states evidence against her dealer, Mr. ABC...

I'm not saying the hypothetical couldn't exist. Just that it is so obvious that AT and the Idaho PD must have considered the question before AT was assigned, as part of the required conflicts assessment and intake process for BK.
 
Could a situation arise in court where the parents of the victims are cross examined and under what circumstances could that situation arise?
That's the only place I could see a problem ..it is likely that if any of them spoke to the victims on the night of the killing, I know one did for sure. Could that bring the parents into the role of witnesses for the prosecution? Subject to cross exam? She could assign somebody else but...
 
PrairieWind said:
This is just my opinion, but I think it is increasingly unlikely that the prosecutor will seek a death penalty in this case.
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IMO I'm afraid a Pandora's box of drugs has been opened. Just a guess, but I can see a possible change of venue and attorney. Bet that Judge wishes they could have put a gag order on this information. The internet has been ablaze with this info and various scenarios to go with it from early on.
 
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