The Utah County Attorney has for the third time moved for the Utah County Public Defender Association to be removed from the Kent Cody Barlow double murder case
. A continuing 2News Investigation exposes what prosecutors were concerned about as early as last year, that ineffective assistance of counsel would be “baked in” to the record by the PDA. KUTV
Before Judge Lund recessed, he ordered the PDA to appoint another attorney because of Aldana’s personal circumstances and said that all available defense resources should be applied to the case. What’s more, he said Lisa Estrada, Aldana’s supervisor can assist in supervising the trial and lending any assistance where she can. Estrada filed a notice of appearance in the case on July 18.
She was also asked if she felt it is appropriate for PDA attorneys to invoke that they are ineffective and or incompetent. To that end, she said, “I think it’s absolutely not appropriate. They have signed a contract with our County saying that they can and will provide effective counsel.” He concluded his declaration, “Consequently, in my capacity as the chief supervisory and managerial authority of the Utah County Public Defender Association, because of these new American Bar Association workload standards, and in compliance with Rule 5.1 of the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct, I cannot ethically certify that the three attorneys currently assigned to represent Mr.
Commissioner Powers Gardner says, “They point the finger at us because we're their source of funding. But what they really need to do is be looking internally and they need to be prioritizing things.
Data from the County provided to 2News Investigates shows that the PDA has 60 employees of which 27 are attorneys in the district court, 3 appeals attorneys, director Means, 8 paralegals, 3 social workers, 9 juvenile court attorneys, 1 juvenile legal assistant, 2 juvenile social workers, a financial manager, an office manager and three receptionists.
Utah County Mismanagement Ineffective Assistance Resources Caseloads Trial Commissioners
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