THE DEFENSE
NEVER RESTS
doing investigative work.”
After about a year on the job,
Olexa put his concerns about excessive caseloads in a letter to
Russin, the chief public defender.
“This matter cries out for an urgent response,” he wrote. “I will
await your advice.”
Russin ignored the letter, not
even offering an informal response. But four months later, he
resigned, so Olexa tried again with
Flora. Two years later, Flora effectively declared war against the
county. Olexa was bowled over. “I
didn’t think anything was going to
happen,” he says.
“I’LL NOT BACK DOWN”
Flora’s lawsuit seeks an injunction forcing the county to boost
funding for his office, and in early
May, lawyers for the ACLU and
the county meet for a preliminary
hearing to argue for and against
such a ruling in front of Joseph
Augello, a local circuit judge. An
injunction provides temporary but
immediate relief, in advance of
a trial, and is a drastic step that
courts rarely endorse. In this case,
however, hundreds of poor criminal defendants are in limbo, without legal counsel, because of Flora’s new policy, giving his request
HUFFINGTON
10.28.12
“ONE OF THE SADDEST
THINGS IN MY LIFE
IS SEEING WHAT
HAS HAPPENED TO
THIS TOWN.”
for an injunction real urgency.
The hearing is in a small auxiliary courtroom on the third floor
of a drab municipal building in
downtown Wilkes-Barre. The defenders office is one floor down,
and all day long, public defenders dip in and out of the courtroom to catch a few minutes of the
proceedings. For a while, Olexa
watches intently from a seat in the
corner. Robert Lawton, the county
manager, sits at the defense table.
Flora testifies for nearly four
hours. On direct examination,
his voice chokes with emotion as
he describes the sorry condition
of the defender’s office and his
battles with local officials over
inadequate funding. On cross-examination, the county’s attorney,
Jack Dean, attacks Flora with an
almost theatrical viciousness. He
waves a copy of Pennsylvania’s
Public Defender Act and passes
it to Flora to review. The act cre-