OPA opens Palmer office

PALMER -- The Office of Public Advocacy recently opened a branch in Palmer, allowing easier access to one of the two agencies helping defendants who can't afford legal services. The office's three attorneys represent indigent defendants in criminal cases where the Public Defender Agency has a conflict of interest.

Those situations include cases involving multiple defendants, or when a witness in a current case was previously represented by the Public Defender Agency and may have provided attorneys with confidential information about a defendant.

The office consists of attorneys Rachel Levitt, Randy Luffberry and Steve Wells along with paralegal Catherine Herron. Their role is to balance the prosecution team in court cases.

"Our job is to make sure the police have not made mistakes, that they have followed all the rules in getting evidence and that they got the right person," Levitt said. "Our job is just as important as that of the police."

"We protect people's liberty interest," Wells added. "You get to argue the Constitution."

He graduated from California Western in San Diego in 1994 and began practicing law in Tennessee. Wells has been a member of the public defender's office in Dillingham for the past four years.

He decided during law school to become a defense attorney because of what he called "hysteria" at that time over cases involving sexual abuse of minors. One highly publicized trial in California stretched on for seven months, he said, and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty in just two hours.

"They said there was just no way he did it," Wells said.

The case made him realize how important it is for people to have the best defense possible, he said, so innocent people are not found guilty.

Likewise, Levitt decided in college that she wanted to become a defense attorney after studying the "Draconian" federal sentencing guidelines, particularly for drug offenses.

"It doesn't allow judges to exercise any discretion," she said. "That's what drove me to go to law school."

She graduated from Duke Law School in 1997 and began working in a South Dakota public defender's office. She was a member of the Public Defender Agency in Palmer until the OPA office opened here in October.

Luffberry was in private practice for 20 years before joining the OPA staff.

There are more than enough cases to keep the trio busy. Levitt, for example, is currently handling 70 misdemeanors and felonies, although she says that's not extraordinary for similar attorneys statewide.

She noted that by the time defense attorneys get a case it has been investigated for several months. From her standpoint, Levitt said, getting access to police reports sooner would allow the system to move more quickly.

While some people view defense attorneys as trying to set guilty people free, Levitt believes a strong defense is the best way to ensure community safety. If an innocent person is convicted, it means the real criminal is still loose.

"Community safety depends on adequate representation for the accused," she said. "It makes sure the right person was prosecuted."