Suit over defender appointments continues

A Seattle attorney suing Mason County District Court and Judge George Steele for appointing him to defend a local man charged with DUI wants the suit to proceed even though he’s been removed as the man’s counsel.

Jonathan Lewis, who has a legal practice in Seattle, filed a writ of mandamus in Mason County Superior Court on Feb. 27.

The writ is used when government officials have allegedly taken a legally prohibited action.

Lewis says Steele improperly appointed him to defend Martin Andres Alonzo, who is being charged with DUI for the third time and whose primary language is Kanjobal.

The appointment violates GR 42, a state general rule regarding public defense services, according to Lewis.

Lewis has continued with litigation despite Steele removing him from Alonzo’s defense March 1 and appointing an attorney from Sound Defenders.

The next hearing is April 22 in front of Mason County Superior Court Judge David Stevens.

Court documents filed March 27 show Chief Public Defender Peter Jones wrote in a declaration January 9 he thought charges against Alonzo should be dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could refile, due to lack of suitable defenders.

“The court has indicated a preference for attempting to assign attorneys, possibly against their will. It is my duty to remind the court that, not only does a defendant have a right to counsel, they have a right to competent counsel. That includes counsel that is not already carrying a full caseload of private cases and otherwise meets the indigent defense standards,” Jones wrote.

“I believe the appropriate remedy to this situation to be a dismissal without prejudice. However, as I am not a party to this case, I am not moving for such a dismissal,” the declaration says.

Lewis made one appearance for Alonzo under protest, according to court documents.

Steele said in a declaration that Lewis was “confrontational” during Alonzo’s hearing.

“Although I continue to believe that my appointment of Mr. Lewis was authorized by law, Mr. Lewis’ conduct made me reconsider whether he should be representing anyone where the county is obliged to provide an attorney,” Steele wrote.

Steele said in his response to the suit that the case should be dismissed as moot now that Lewis is removed.

“The request for a writ of mandamus in this case is moot. Lewis has been removed as counsel to the indigent defendant and no longer has any present stake in the matters set forth before the court. Any inconvenience he suffered as a result can no longer be remedied. A case is moot if a court can no longer provide effective relief,” according to the response.

Lewis’ fear that he may be appointed again is “purely speculative and unlikely,” the response says.

The court documents provide insight into how dire the staffing situation is at the public defender’s office.

In Steele’s declaration, he writes that in early January there was only one public defender for the district court.

“A few weeks later, another of the in-house public defenders resigned to take a position with the Grays Harbor Office of the Prosecuting Attorney,” Steele said.

“The Public Defender took the position that it needed to focus its resources on Superior Court, meaning there were no public defenders available for cases pending in district court. As a result of the shortage of available public defenders, the chief public defender of Mason County, Mr. Peter Jones, started sending out notices advising us that his office had no lawyers to send to District Court,” according to Steele.

Mason County raised the contract attorney rate for public defense from $50 to $75 in 2022, “nevertheless, Mr. Jones was unable to get any new attorneys to take cases at that rate of pay, which was well below most other counties, even after the 2022 increase,” the declaration says.

Steele said two people applied for the positions but “one had been fired by a local law firm for incompetence and the other was not even licensed to practice law.”

Steele said that’s when he started conscripting defense attorneys.

“Our presiding judge pro-tem, Stephen Greer, did so as well. These

appointments assisted in keeping cases being processed,” Steele wrote.

Shortly thereafter, the two firms the judges used for attorneys both lost associates and could no longer take cases, the declaration states.

In 2023, two public defenders were hired.

“These hirings provided a temporary reprieve from the shortage of available defense attorneys but it did not completely solve the problem,” according to Steele.

One of the new hires was terminated in November and the other resigned in January to take a position with a private law firm, according to the declaration.

“These two changes at the public defender’s office made the shortage of available defenders worse than it was before,” the declaration states.

Steele again had to compel private attorneys to take cases, he said.

“I did not do this lightly. I knew that attorneys appointed by this process are not happy about it, but my priority was ensuring that defendants constitutional right to legal defense counsel is satisfied. I also knew that the county commissioners are not happy about it, in part as the statute puts on the court the decision of what compensation to pay, which could have budgetary impacts,” according to Steele.