Today, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt released a list of cases impacted by the public defense crisis. The list includes felony cases dismissed by the JC3 court as a result of the crisis.
In November, DA Mike Schmidt called the public defense crisis– defined by a lack of public defenders to provide counsel to defendants– an urgent threat to public safety. Individuals charged with a crime have a constitutional right to defense counsel. Victims have a right to justice. Absent counsel, criminal prosecutions cannot lawfully move forward, and throughout the counsel shortage, cases issued by the office have been routinely dismissed over prosecutors’ objections.
DA Schmidt also declared that MCDA would publish cases dismissed due to the crisis each week to increase transparency and advance the public’s understanding of the scope of the crisis. Here is a breakdown of the types of felonies getting dismissed.
There were 26 cases dismissed by the court as a result of the public defense crisis between 12/1/23 and 12/7/23:
19-CR-43658
20-CR-27121
20-CR-46276
23-CR-32496
23-CR-32503
19-CR-34820
23-CR-01024
20-CR-65289
22-CR-50784
22-CR56525
23-CR-15779
20-CR-14113
23-CR-41751
20-CR-01877
22-CR-04523
23-CR-24071
23-CR-21966
21-CR-17107
21-CR-12712
23-CR-42205
22-CR-30554
23-CR-28128
23-CR-12901
22-CR-11207
21-CR-40892
23-CR-42203
#MCDA#