Fund May Be Created To Pay For Costly Murder Trials Counties Face Financial Ruin To Try Death Penalty Cases

A study committee is considering recommending to the Legislature that it create a state-local fund to help finance costly murder trials.

But one panel member, 5th District Judge Roger Burdick, Twin Falls, cautioned others on Friday that it’s far from a simple matter.

For one, Burdick said, defense attorneys would have little incentive to keep their costs down. “Defenders have no loyalty to the county to save money,” he said. “Their only loyalty is to their client.”

Panel members talked of recommending a “capital crimes defense fund,” similar to a fund created by the counties to share insurance risks.

It would call for voluntary participation by counties, but most members said they thought few of Idaho’s 44 counties would not join.

The fund would be triggered only in cases where the death penalty is a possibility. Proposed legislation calls for a court fee of $5 to generate a $1 million defense fund, with the fee to be paid by anyone convicted of a violation in any county participating in the fund.

Ada County Commissioner Roger Simmons said the Idaho Association of Counties is behind the idea. He said his county likely would take part in the capital crimes defense fund if state funding were provided, even though Ada County does not face the risk of financial ruin as do small counties where major murder cases are prosecuted.

Chairman Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, said the 1996 murders in Lincoln County shows the risks faced by small counties.

A coroner’s jury ruled that Walter Schoolcraft, a 48-year-old bachelor, killed Denise McCoy, 33, and her children ages 11, 10, 8 and 2 before shooting himself in June of 1996.

“That little county of 2,500 people would have been in a world of hurt if that guy hadn’t killed himself,” Darrington said.

Simmons noted that in recent years, some of the smaller counties have shied away from filing first-degree murder charges because of the expense they face for the trial and long appeals.

The panel also is looking at creating a state central office to defend people accused of murder and facing a possible death penalty.

The office of state appellate public defender would be under the state Board of Examiners and could represent defendants both at the trial level and through appeals. Proposals discussed by the panel call for lawyers to be appointed for four year terms and have at least five years experience.