The Nevada Supreme Court recent­ly issued new stan­dards for indi­gent defense coun­sel, includ­ing spe­cial pro­vi­sions for cap­i­tal cas­es that address all facets of death penal­ty pro­ceed­ings, from the selec­tion of the pub­lic defend­ers to post-con­vic­tion appeals. Key stan­dards regard­ing death penal­ty cas­es from the 72-page document include:

  • The defense team should con­sist of no few­er than two attorneys…and con­tain at least one mem­ber qual­i­fied by train­ing and expe­ri­ence to screen indi­vid­u­als for the pres­ence of men­tal or psy­cho­log­i­cal dis­or­ders or impairments
  • Each cap­i­tal defen­dant with­in the juris­dic­tion [should] receive high-qual­i­ty legal representation.
  • Funds should be made avail­able for the effec­tive train­ing, pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment, and con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion of all mem­bers of the defense team, whether the mem­bers are employed by an insti­tu­tion­al defend­er or are employed or retained by coun­sel appoint­ed by the court. 
  • Counsel in death penal­ty cas­es should be ful­ly com­pen­sat­ed at a rate that is com­men­su­rate with the pro­vi­sion of high-qual­i­ty legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion and reflects the extra­or­di­nary respon­si­bil­i­ties inher­ent in death penalty representation.
  • The work­load of attor­neys rep­re­sent­ing defen­dants in death penal­ty cas­es [should be] main­tained at a lev­el that enables coun­sel to pro­vide each client with high-qual­i­ty legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion in accor­dance with the Nevada Indigent Defense Standards of Performance. 

The changes in rep­re­sen­ta­tion stan­dards were prompt­ed by the heavy case­loads pub­lic attor­neys in the state’s most pop­u­lat­ed coun­ties (Clark and Washoe) over­see. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the aver­age pub­lic defend­er in both coun­ties man­ages over 325 felony and gross demeanor cas­es. The National Legal Aid and Defender Association rec­om­mends that pub­lic defend­ers man­age around 150 cas­es. The Nevada Supreme Court ordered that Clark and Washoe Counties study the cur­rent case­loads in order to deter­mine whether lim­its are need­ed.
(See Editorial, ​“Supreme Court order con­firms impor­tance of pub­lic defend­ers,” Reno Gazette-Journal, January 9, 2008). Read the Nevada Supreme Court’s stan­dards here. See also Representation.

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