By Cindi Andrews
Enquirer staff writer

The Hamilton County Public Defender's Office is underfunded and overwhelmed, putting its poor clients at risk of taking the rap for crimes they didn't commit, according to a New York lawyer's evaluation.

Paul Callan evaluated the office as part of a review requested by county commissioners and the five-person commission that oversees the defender's office.

His findings will be included in the final report on the office. His written evaluation was obtained by the Enquirer.

"While the vast majority of defendants are guilty of the crimes with which they are charged, there are always a certain percentage of innocent individuals who get caught up unjustly in the system," he wrote. "... In Hamilton County Public Defender-serviced misdemeanor cases, none of these innocent defendants are accorded their constitutional right to a jury trial."

Misdemeanor cases handled by the defender's office go to a jury trial less than 1 percent of the time, Callan said, a fact that Public Defender Louis Strigari doesn't dispute.

The charges can run the gamut from littering to assault. Pleading to a lesser charge speeds the process for the defense attorney, the prosecutor and the judge, Callan said, but even a minor conviction could come back to haunt the defendant.

Cincinnati attorney George Vincent, a member of the Public Defenders Commission, was skeptical of Callan's assertions.

"I guess it's hard for me to understand how on one day's observation he could come to that conclusion."

Commissioner Phil Heimlich said the report confirmed his fears.

"We've all heard tragic stories of innocent men and women who were wrongly convicted," said Heimlich, an attorney and a former assistant prosecutor. "I don't want that to happen on my watch, and it's bound to happen. I don't think there's anything more important than this issue."

He said he would support giving the Public Defender's Office more money once it improves its management practices. The rest of the office's county-funded review, being conducted by A.T. Hudson & Co., will include recommendations to improve efficiency and oversight.

The Public Defender's Office operates on an annual budget of $9.6 million. It handles some 30,000 to 40,000 misdemeanor cases a year for those who can't afford their own lawyers, Strigari said. Each attorney handles 1,200 to 1,500 cases, he said, which is more than twice the recommended number.

Private attorneys are hired at $40 an hour to defend suspects accused of felonies and convicts who wish to appeal.

The office has just one paralegal and one investigator, which Callan termed a shocking situation.

"Criminal cases, more often than not, are won or lost based upon the factual determinations," he said.

Vincent said the office doesn't have the money to hire more investigators, although it gets some help from law firms that donate their services.

The Public Defender's Office will meet with commissioners Aug. 16 to discuss its 2005 budget.

E-mail candrews@enquirer.com