With Significant Drop in Crime, D.C. Reduces Size of CJA Panel

Jamison KoehlerD.C. Superior Court

The list is finally out.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Morin announced last fall that the panel of attorneys who are approved to represent indigent criminal defendants would be reconstituted. Everyone was required to re-apply. And, with the number of criminal cases down 25% since 2008, Judge Morin warned that there would be major cuts.

Sure enough, in a report to Chief Judge Lee Satterfield that was made public yesterday, the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panel Implementation Committee recommended a list of 200 attorneys for the full panel and an additional 17 lawyers as “provisional members.”  This is down from 309 attorneys who were on the panel last fall.  Wrote the Committee:

Over the past few years . . . , while the number of attorneys on the Panel has remained relatively constant, or increased to some extent, there has been a steady decrease in the number of criminal cases filed. . . In addition, as a result of the Community Court Expansion Program in 2010 many more misdemeanor cases are eligible for diversion, reducing the need for attorney time for those cases.  Because of these and other reasons, on any given day, a significant number of Panel attorneys do not receive any appointments, even though they are available to serve, or receive an insufficient number of cases.  In the Committee’s view, it is optimal that there be a balance to ensure both that there are enough Panel members available to meet the Court’s need for highly competent counsel for all defendants, and that there are a sufficient number of cases for each attorney in order to make efficient use of an attorney’s time.

Here is the list of attorneys that Chief Judge Satterfield approved yesterday:

Full Panel Member

Sabitiju Abou

Atiq R. Ahmed

David H. Akulian

Khadijah R. Ali

Charles R. Allen

Elita C. Amato

Andrea Antonelli

Colleen S. Archer

Kenneth Auerbach

Mitchell Baer

Todd S. Baldwin

Betty M. Ballester

Gregg D. Baron

Donna Beasley

Joseph J. Bernard

Thecla Bethel

Abraham Blitzer

Samuel A. Bogash

Ferris R. Bond

Bryan T. Bookhard

Susan E. Borecki

Dennis R. Braddock

Stephen F. Brennwald

Bryan W. Brown

Michael P. Bruckheim

Sharon L. Burka

Charles Burnham

Anthony Cade

Joseph P. Caleb

Cory L. Carlyle

John J. Carney

Veta M. Carney

Damon Catacalos

Jason Clark

Noah Clements

Cary Clennon

Brett E. Cohen

James D. Colt

Jennifer Connor

Bruce M. Cooper

Peter A. Cooper

Gregory Copeland

Gregory A. Cotter

Bernard F. Crane

Patricia Ann Cresta-Savage

David Cumberbatch

Daniel Daly

Frances M. D’Antuono

Joel R. Davidson

Daniel K. Dorsey

April L. Downs

John Duru

Colin Dunham

Donald L. Dworsky

Susan D. Ellis

Thomas D. Engle

Henry A. Escoto

Ferguson Evans

Oluwole O. Falodun

Sean J. Farrelly

Robert P. Feeney

Gretchen Franklin

David L. Frecker

Cherlyn Freeman-Watkins

Edward Gain

Gregory W. Gardner

Grey A. Gardner

Richard K. Gilbert

Mark Goldstone

Christopher Gowen

Russell J. Hairston

Kiumars Hakimzadeh

Marie E. Haldane

Brandi J. Harden

Daniel J. Harn

John T. Harvey

Shawn A. Heller

Gloria D. Henderson

Matthew R. Hertz

Thomas T. Heslep

Grandison E. Hill

Richard E. Holliday

Veronice A. Holt

Linda M. Houston

Adam R. Hunter

Aminata Ipyana

Kevin D. Irving

Frederick D. Iverson

Tammy S. Jacques

Carlotta P. Jarvis

Chantal Jean-Baptiste

Theresa Y. Jenkins

Stephanie L. Johnson

Stuart Johnson

Dorsey G. Jones

Joseph Jorgens

Edward D. Joseph

Quo Mieko S. Judkins

Louis Kamara

Cynthia Katkish

Thomas Key

M. Azhar Khan

Tony Khater

Steven R. Kiersch

Marnitta L. King

Teresa G. Kleiman

Sara E. Kopecki

Isaac K. Kunnirickal

Geralyn R. Lawrence

Thomas E. Lester

Richard Lewis

Shai A. Littlejohn

John L. Machado

T. Gail Maddox-Levine

Shridevi Madhure

Lloyd A. Malech

James T. Maloney

Randy E. McDonald

Howard X. McEachern

Kyle A. McGonigal

Kristin L. McGough

Rufus William McKinney, Jr.

Cedric D. Miller

Karen L. Minor

Joseph A. Molina

Craig N. Moore

Kevin Louis Mosley

Charles P. Murdter

Jay P. Mykytiuk

Sean B. Murphy

Kelli Neptune

Patricia Newton

Lauckland A. Nicholas

Archie M. Nichols

Adgie O’Bryant, Jr.

Chidi A. Ogolo

Justin A. Okezie

Kevin Oliver

Chiemeka C. Opaigbeogu

June Perrone

Kimberly J. Phillips

Heather Pinckney

Steven G. Polin

Clarence K. Powell

Aaron E. Price

Elliott Queen

Daniel W. Quillin

Angela T. Ramsay

Chantaye Redmond-Reid

Janai C. Reed

Ravi Regunathan

David Richter

Stephen W. Riddell

Matthew C. Rist

Kevin C. Robertson

Ralph D. Robinson

Mark M. Rollins

Martin W. Rosendorf

Stephen O. Russell

James Rudasill

John Sample

Lisbeth Sapirstein

Anna B. Scanlon

Seth L. Schraeger

Corinne Schultz

Errin R. Scialpi

Joseph A. Scrofano

Miguel A. Serrano

Heather Shaner

Gilda L. Sherrod-Ali

David A. Sidbury

Paul A. Signet

Joanne D. Slaight

Anthony E. Smith

Jerry R. Smith

Lee A. Smith

Alan S. Solomon

Patrice A. Sulton

Van Teasley

Alvin H. Thomas

Everald F. Thompson

Reginald M. Towe

Courtney M. Vaughn

David Vega

Charles M. Wall

Anne Keith Walton

Sharon M. Weathers

Carrie A. Weletz

Elizabeth J. Weller

Ian A. Williams

James Williams

Kanita Williams

Larry D. Williams

McGennis Williams

Jonathan P. Willmott

Winston Yallery-Arthur

Bruce I. Yamashita

Lola M. Ziadie

Jonathan Zucker

Provisional Members

Margaret M. Cassidy

Jack Gilmore

Paolo A. Gnocchi

Richard Goemann

Richard P. Goldberg

Joseph E. McCoy

Caleb C. Medearis

Christopher J. Mutimer

Steven J. Ogilvie

Matthew J. Peed

Christine R. Pembroke

Kelsey D. Phipps

Rupa Puttagunta

Donna L. Scott

Gemma M. Stevens

Jacqueline R. Williams

Nicole D. Zahara