Does Anyone Check to See if Defendants are Actually Broke?
According to Judge Steven Mowery, approximately 95% of the defendants who appear before his court are indigent and require court-appointed counsel. But does anyone check to see if these people are actually broke?
When asked if the court verifies if people are actually indigent, the judge said, “It’s a good question. We’re not capable of doing an asset check in open court on a Monday morning. Our bailiffs ask everyone who comes in if they want an application for court-appointed counsel. They complete a form under penalty of perjury.”
Defendants list their income and debts on the form. “When we call them up, we don’t have the ability when we appoint someone that day to do an asset check. The judge said the process would be lengthy. The court would have to check with the auditor’s office to see if the defendant owned real estate and the clerk’s office to see if they had a vehicle registered. “We do not have the ability to check the indigency affidavit, and that’s a problem. I don’t know how it is fixable.”
Judge Mowery said he has called people out on lying about indigency before. “In fact, I sentenced a guy for contempt when he had money he didn’t disclose. But you can be making an awful lot of money and still fall under indigency if you have debt or other issues.”
The judge says fairness is one of his concerns about recent calls to make defendants pay for the cost of ankle monitors. “If I tell somebody I’m going to sentence you to the county jail or you’re going on house arrest, but if you’re going on house arrest, you’re going to have to pay for it. A wealthy guy is going to pay his way out of jail, but maybe 90% of the people I deal with can’t. I don’t like the way that feels.”