Three indigent defendants filed a class action lawsuit in June 2011 against the cities of Mount Vernon and Burlington. Plaintiffs allege that the cities are systematically failing to provide assistance of counsel to low-income persons who face criminal charges in municipal court. The right to counsel is a civil right that is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Washington State Constitution.
TMLG attorney Toby Marshall presented Plaintiffs’ closing arguments at trial on Tuesday before Judge Lasnik in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
This case in the news:
Closing Arguments Held in Public Defense Trial – June 18, 2013, The Olympian, Gene Johnson
Trial Begins Over Public Defense in 2 Wash. Cities – June 2, 2013, The Seattle Times, Gene Johnson
Challenge to Cities’ Public Defenders Can Proceed – February 23, 2012, The Seattle Times, The Associated Press
Press Release: Mount Vernon and Burlington Sued for Allegedly Violating the Constitutional Rights of Indigent Defendants – June 10, 2011