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AN ATTORNEY APPOINTED BY THE COURT TO REPRESENT AN INDIGENT CHARGED
WITH A FELONY INVOLVING SALE OF DRUGS IS NOT DISQUALIFIED BY REASON
OF THE FACT THAT HIS SPOUSE IS A MEMBER OF THE CITY COUNCIL WITH
A REPUTATION FOR INSISTENCE ON STRICT ENFORCEMENT OF DRUG LAWS.
FACTS
You state that you have been requested by the County Court to
accept an appointment to represent an indigent person charged
with selling marijuana, a felony. The statute, Sec. 29-1804.06,
R.S. Supp. 1974, provides that all such appointments are to be
made by the District Judge in felony cases. For the purposes herein
we will assume that the County Judge makes recommendations for
such appointments, but the District Judge, of course, is not bound
by same.
You further state that your wife is a member of the City Council
of the City in which you practice, and one of her primary concerns
is strict enforcement of drug laws; that a city police officer was
involved in the investigation and arrest of the defendant. You inquire
whether your representation of this defendant would violate any
legal ethics.
CODE PROVISIONS
EC 2-27 of the Code states:
"History is replete with instances of distinguished and sacrificial
services by lawyers who have represented unpopular clients and causes.
Regardless of his personal feelings, a lawyer should not decline
representation because a client or a cause is unpopular or community
reaction is adverse."
EC 2-28 states:
"The
personal preference of a lawyer to avoid adversary alignment against
judges, other lawyers, public officials, or influential members
of the community does not justify his rejection of tendered employment."
EC 2-29 provides:
."When a lawyer is appointed by a court or requested by a bar
association to undertake representation of a person unable to obtain
counsel, whether for financial or other reasons, he should not seek
to be excused from undertaking the representation except for compelling
reasons. Compelling reasons do not include such factors as the repugnance
of the subject matter of the proceeding, the identity or position
of a person involved in the case, the belief of the lawyer that
the defendant in a criminal proceeding is guilty, or the belief
of the lawyer regarding the merits of the civil case."
Your position as a spouse of a member of the City Council is not
as sensitive or comparable to the office of City Attorney who is
charged with prosecution of certain crimes, yet this committee ruled
in Advisory Opinion 72-13 that a city or village attorney may represent
anyone charged with a crime if his employment is approved by an
order of the court wherein the case is pending.
CONCLUSION
It is the opinion of this committee that if you were to be appointed
by the District Judge to represent this indigent defendant, there
would be no conflict of interest under the Code which would disqualify
you from such representation. The question of the advisability
of the appointment is for the court, not this committee.
76-3, March 3, 1976
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