European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 5, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Stales must provide lawyers not Only to capital defendants who cannot afford them but to All other felony defendants and Misdemeanour Dehm Danta facing Proton. Death penalty litigation is a free attorney enough to protect a defendant s rights by Andrea Neal United press International during Michael Mcdougal s Lisl Degruc murder trial his lawyer was  on drugs suffered from migraines an occasionally do of in the courtroom coup papers say. In closing arguments 1o the jury the Altor Najy delivered a rambling Rani in which he Cal cd the death Penally .1 look of the fascists,1 Mcdougall was san Loncon 1o die. Now six years alter his conviction by a North Carolina jury Mcdougall is appealing his sentence on grounds he was denied his right 1o a competent lawyer he is one of a growing number of death Row inmates complaining about Iho underpaid overworked and sometimes incompetent lawyers who represent hem at their trials 1 no one who has any Money faces the death penalty says South Carolina trial lawyer David Bruck. While there Are hundreds of thousands of lawyers in the unmet states there is very Lille competent Welense available for the people who need it Nosi people on rial for in tier  while some capital defendants can scrape together the funds for a Low budget lawyer More than 90 percent rely on a free attorney provided by the stale. Supreme court Justice Thurgood Marshall believes a tree attorney is not enough to protect a defendant s rights and has urged his colleagues to require appointment of experienced criminal lawyers in capital cases capital defendants do nol have a fair oppor Lucily to Delend their lives in the courtroom Marshall said recently. Deals Penally litigation has become a specialised Field of practice Anc even the most Well intentioned attorneys often Are unable to recognize preserve and Delend their clients rights a Survey by Dpi of Deal penalty appeals filed at the Page 16 the stars and stripes supreme court underscores the problem. One in five claims a violation of the sixth amendment right to ii i ii glance of  a University of North Carolina  professor Norman Lefstein. Says the overwhelming majorly of death Row inmates Challenge i in competence of their trial lawyers a some Point in Iho appeals process. Further investigation reveals that in Many of those cases attorneys failed to adequately prepare Lor trial did not interview witnesses in Advance of questioning them on the land and presented no evidence during the sentencing phase that might convince a jury to spare a defendant s life. One such Case is that of South Carolina s Sterling Spann who was convicted in 1982 of raping and murdering an 82-year-old woman. During the sentencing phase of Spann s trial attorney w. Newton Pough matted him by the name Stanley ins Lead of Sterling 20 limes. Pough never spoke with Spann s family members and never considered calling them As character witnesses Evert though four of them attended Spann s trial and would have been Happy to testify. Pough who was hired by a Friend of Spann said he did not think the testimony was necessary. Spann s new attorney Jon Popowski believes his client would have received a Lite sentence instead of the death Penally Al his Legal help had been belter. It s Clear the Oul Como would Ruve been different Popowski said this Guy Pough walks in cold no preparation he does l talk to any witnesses. He does l review anything. He admits not knowing the facts of the  in an Appeal filed in Federal District court in Columbia s can affidavit from one of the jurors says she would have Felt Dille Renly about Spann if a Friend or relative had testified on his behalf. The absence of family members the juror said left an impression with the jury thai relatives had washed their hands of him and were embarrassed by his crime. Mary Broderick who Heads the defender division of sunday october 5,1986 the National Legal Aid and defender association says Spann s Case is typical. She Calls the Quality of Legal representation Given capital defendants a National  of think Many people who Are represented by assigned counsel receive Good representation but there Are a shocking number who Are real practice by their lawyers either because their lawyers arc incompetent or negligent she says. Under supreme court rulings capital defendants have a right to present mitigating evidence at the sentencing phase of the trial in an Effort to get a life sentence instead of the death Penally. The testimony can Range from character witnesses to evidence of a troubled family background. Yet in Many cases lawyers offer no mitigating evidence at All according to Ronald Tabak. A new York City lawyer who has become involved in death penalty appeals. Tabak says Many lawyers have never been involved in capital cases before and do not know what mitigating evidence is or How to find it. Robert Spangenberg a consultant for the american bar association says death Penally Law Haa become almost a separate Law unto i serf. In order to practice As a defense Counselor in the capital area you need extra training extra  despite the sixth amendment it was no until 1932 that the supreme court said Stales had a duly to provide lawyers to capital defendants who could not afford them. Since then the right has been extended to cover ale felony defendants and All Misdemeanour defendants facing prison sentences. But the court has left to the states the question of implementing tie right to counsel and Many consider the Welense of the indigent a Tow budget priority the states and local governments have never fully acknowledged the fact they have an obligation to provide a free lawyer for somebody who can t afford one Broderick says. They take it for granted that they have to adequately fund the prosecutor s office and the court system but they throw scraps at the Welense