Defense attorneys are rankled by the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office contracting the chief deputy prosecutor's wife to work on a case. But their worries are more about pay rate than nepotism. Some contend that the prosecutor's office is providing attorney Betsy Black, a former county prosecutor and wife of Chief Deputy Prosecutor Barry Black, significantly higher compensation than what county-contracted defense attorneys receive. "The disparity of what they're willing to pay someone to come back and work on a particular case to prosecute, versus what they're paying the rest of us for our defense is outrageous," said defense attorney Michael Palmer/Alecia Warren, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (SR file photo: Karina Moore is featured in a YouTube video on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. She was two years old when she died from injuries she sustained while in foster care in Post Falls in January 2009)

Question: Do the defense attorney have a legitimate gripe re: the $100-per-hour contract? Or is Betsy Black's background in this sensitive case worth the extra money?