Competent, vigorous legal representation is especially critical in Virginia, which ranks second to Texas in the number of executions since 1982. In the past few years, Virginia has tried between 85 and 100 capital cases a year.Of course they do. They're criminal defense attorneys. The only people who get more complaints are domestic attorneys1. A fairly typical complaint lodged with Bar alleges:
Yet appallingly, a study by the American Civil Liberties Union a few years ago found that court-appointed attorneys in Virginia capital cases had worse-than-average disciplinary records with the state bar association.
He didn't take all of my [twice daily, collect] phone calls from the jail, didn't explain to me that I'd actually have to go to prison if convicted of distributing drugs, wouldn't call my thrice convicted felon cousin to testify that he heard somebody at work say that somebody else was the dealer on the corner who ran away from the police (cousin was never able to get more specific than about either person), and didn't call another witness I wanted at trial just because he claimed he couldn't find him (just because I had no address or phone number and only know the guy as K-Bat is no excuse - if he had gotten me a lower bond I could have gotten out and found the guy myself).No matter how clearly and how often the Bar explains in its brochures, on its website, and on its complaint form that this is not an appeal and will not change the sentence Defendants and their families continue to believe it is and it will. A buddy of mine got the dreaded letter from the Bar recently and the complaint alleged everything under the sun but said the defendant's family would be happy to drop the complaint if the Defendant's sentence was reduced. I suspect my friend going to make it through unscathed. However, if enough complaints of this nature are filed something is going to stick eventually. This is true because (1) Defense attorneys are human and do make errors, and (2) if you get a complaint about a case from 8 months ago - from a client whom you barely remember - how do you answer it if you don't have notes about the particular allegation? For instance - on the day of trial Cousin shows up with the hearsay above. You listen to him and tell client he cannot testify (which client never understands). Because you are minutes away from a jury trial you forget to note it on your file and proceed to trial. Months later you get the complaint that you refused to call THE witness who had evidence that would absolutely prove client's innocence. You don't even remember the guy anymore; how do you defend yourself?
1 On the other hand, attorneys at BigLaw firms don't get many bar complaints. If the Ford Motor Co. CEO gets mad at you for botching a case he just takes his $5 million a year to the competition.
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