The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 101

Page Eleven Little Joe Has Been Battling for Years For an Idea That May Soon Be Adopted Has Plenty of Opposition to Overcome to Make Public Defender Project a Reality in Criminal Court Procedure 'X. 7 Persistency, however, has yielded Mr. Goldstein his volunteer committee. Even two or three of the pillow and book throwers have joined. They knew all along that Joe's idea was a good one, but they got tired of listening to him talk about it.

"This is no wild idea," says Goldstein when he gets a good listener. "Any number of eminent jurists and students of criminal law and procedure have investigated the project and have approved it former presiding Justice Almet F. Jenks, George W. Kirchway of Columbia Law School, Justice Lewis Fawcett, County Judge Alonzo G. McLaughlin, County Judge Franklin Taylor, Municipal Court Justice James A.

Dunne I can think of a number of others. Meier Steinbrink has expressed his unqualified approval of the project "You see the idea is this: It is Beyond debate that a wealthy man has a greater opportunity to perfect his defense in criminal action than has a man without funds. A man of wealth charged with a crime can secure the best legal talent in the community. He has a far better chance of being acquitted than a prisoner who finds himself in a cell without means of securing bail, without money to obtain a lawyer and without the funds to produce his witnesses in court. "It is ridiculous to believe even for a moment that a high-class competent attorney would go to the defense of a poor prisoner and render him the aid and assistance necessary to secure his liberty.

"The courts of this State have always guarded jealously the rights of persons accused of crime and district attorneys as a rule will not willfully send a man to prison if they possess facts which would prove the defendant's innocence. "But sometimes district attorneys are overzealous. In their desire to pile up a record of convictions they sometimes are not solicitous enough about going out of their way in search of evidence that might help the accused. "The judges are too busy to prepare the defense of the persons accused of crime." Goldstein is usually interrupted at this point with an objection from his listener a question to this effect: "With the amount of crime we have today and with iumbers of criminals uncaptured by the police, don't you think it unwise to suggest any additional means of defending criminals?" Little Joe is prepared for this interruption and question. He has been waiting for it.

He knows just about when it is coming and he's ready with his answer. Sometimes he jumps to his feet, though not excitedly. "There are many men accused unjustly of having By Howard A. Shiebler DOES the poor man accused of a crime stand the same chance of being acquitted as the rich man? Has the man without money for high-priced lawyers the same opportunity to safeguard his liberty that a rich man has when unjustly accused of a crime. Are we, in this State, doing all we can to protect the innocent poor who may be arrested for committing crime? "The answer is no," says Joseph Goldstein, Brooklyn lawyer and sponsor of the move for public defenders.

"Many innocent persons have been sent to jail, separated from their families and branded as criminals simply because they lacked the funds to employ competent counsel to defend them. "It is unfair. Such a state of affairs should not be tolerated in a democracy. This State ought to have pubhc defenders the same as it has public prosecutors. So speaks Joseph Goldstein, the irrepressible little attorney who has spent most of the last five years trying to sell his "public-defender idea" to the State of New York.

If persistency counts for anything Goldstein will some day realize his ambition. That ambition is to see established in the various counties of this State an office to be known as the office of public defender. It would be the duty of the public defender to appear in court in behalf of persons accused of crime, who claim to be innocent of any wrongdoing but who are too poor to employ competent counsel properly to defend them. Four times Goldstein has seen a bill introduced in the Legislature designed to create the office of public defender; four times the bill has been referred to committee and allowed to die there. But Goldstein has not despaired.

He will keep on trying to have the bill passed. Meanwhile he is going ahead without a law. He has formed a committee of lawyers for the purpose of defending the unfortunate who are brought into court. The lawyers on Goldstein's committee are going to defend people free of charge, provided there is evidence of their innocence and proof of their inability to hire counsel. "A lawyer who'll work for nothing! I didn know such a lawyer existed," said the skeptics when Goldstein started his committee.

"Lawyers want fees. They won't write briefs and make arguments for love." But Goldstein knew his own profession better than the skeptics knew it and in no time he had formed a committee of volunteers, with good lawyers on it, too not ne'er-do-wells, not broken-down hacks, but good lawyers, men of recognized legal ability. As this is written the committee is preparing to go into open court in Kings County to declare its purposes and offer its services. Perhaps by the time this appears in print the committee will already have been received by the court. When the committee is actually functioning Goldstein will have drawn one step nearer to his goal, which, as has been said, is the establishment by statute of a regular office of public defender, chosen by the people and responsible to the people just as is the office of District Attorney.

"Little Joe" Goldstein eats, sleeps and talks this "public-defender" idea. He carries great masses of paper in his pockets concerning the success of the scheme in other States. Some of his colleagues have nearly gone mad listening to him discuss it. At the club they have thrown books, pillows anything at him to make him keep still or talk about something else; but Joe always comes up smiling: "Los Angeles, California, has just elected a Public Defender for a second term of four years another pillow hits Joe in the face. "Omaha, Nebraska, has followed suit and now has its Public Defender swish, a book goes flying through the air at Joe- Joseph Goldstein committed crimes.

In other words, they are not criminals. But they become criminals if they are convicted. They grow to lose all respect for justice and the courts. If, because they are without funds to hire counsel they are sent to jail innocent of the charge against them. Criminals are made this way.

Perhaps it's one reason we have so many." "But will not the court assign a lawyer to take the case of a defendant who says he has no money?" "That is true. But what often happens is this: A lawyer of questionable ability is assigned. He goes down to the cell where the prisoner sits and the first question he asks is, 'Have you got any money? The prisoner replies that he has 'only a dollar and a quarter or 'not a cent. 'Well, the lawyer says, 'take a pica- I'll what I can to get you off lightly. "Realizing what he's up against without money, the unfortunate prisoner sees a plea as the easiest way out.

A conviction is marked against his record. He loses respect for the law and the next we hear of him he's in court again, this time actually guilty, but figuring to himself that he might as well go to jail for something he did do as for something he didn't do." Goldstein explains that Western States were first to recognize the necessity for safeguarding the liberty of poverty-stricken innocents charged with crime. He points out that several Western States have created Public Defenders and four.d their work most beneficial in assisting the administration of justice. "In New York County," says Goldstein, "a Volunteer Defender CTmittee has been in existence for some years, headed by Louis Fabricant, who has done yeoman service in the criminal courts." Mr. Goldstein insists that the women lawyers are enthusiastic supporters of what he calls "this great reform." He names Anna Hocbfelder, Jeanette Brill, Amy Wren, Madeline Jacobson and others as having announced their willingness to assist in every manner possible without compensation.

As evidence of the good work public defenders may do, Goldstein cites the case of a man who was once arrested on a charge of swindling. The man had a police record, but was not guilty of the charge pressed against him on this particular occasion. The jury convicted him. The Volunteer Defenders League meanwhile took up the case. It was discovered that the accused was in another city at the time of the sw indling.

This was established beyond a shadow of doubt and when the accused appeared for sentence the judge set aside the jury's verdict and discharged the accused. "Your honor," the accused addressed the court, "I have been a crook since HK)5. I have been arraigned in many courts before many judges and have been confined in many prisons, but this is the first time in my life that I ever had a square deal. I have reached the end of the crooked path. Now going straight for the rest of my life." Goldstein's face lights up triumphs mly whenever he tells this story.

To him it is absolute proof of the desirability of public defenders..