Capital Defender Office

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Statistics from Eight Years of Representation 1995 - 2003 Prepared by: The Capital Defender Office August, 2003 Capital Defender Office 217 Broadway New York, NY 10007, 9th Floor 212-608-3352 ext. 215 www.nycdo.org Introduction The death penalty was returned to the criminal statutes of New York State by Chapter 1 of the Laws of 1995, which took effect on September 1, 1995. The new law expanded the crime of murder in the first degree and provided two penalties for persons convicted of this crime: death and life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP). The new law also established an independent entity--the Capital Defender Office (CDO)-- and charged it with ensuring that persons who are accused of crimes punishable by death and who are “financially unable to obtain adequate representation or investigative, expert or other reasonably necessary services,” are adequately represented by qualified counsel and helped by experts and investigators. The CDO was also charged with establishing and maintaining a wholly new capital defense system for New York State. Governance The CDO is governed by a three-member board of directors who serve three-year terms. The Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, the Majority Leader and President Pro Tem of the New York State Senate and the Speaker of the New York State Assembly each appoints one director. Peter L. Zimroth, appointed by the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, chairs the Board of Directors. The other two members of the Board are Michael J. Hutter, appointed by the Majority Leader and President Pro Tem of the New York State Senate and Frederick J. Jacobs, appointed by the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. Past board members include the late Arthur L. Liman, the founding chairman; the Honorable John Dunne, the Honorable Richard Simons, Christopher E. Stone and the Honorable John T. Casey. Leadership In 1995, the Board of Directors appointed Kevin M. Doyle as the Capital Defender. Under Mr. Doyle’s direction, the CDO operates three offices across the State. The CDO’s main office is located in New York City. The downstate office handles cases in the five boroughs of New York City and four counties in the surrounding metropolitan area. The First Deputy Capital Defender in New York City, Susan H. Salomon, oversees appeals in capital cases throughout the State. The CDO operates two regional offices: Albany, which handles cases in a 29 county area in central New York and Rochester, which handles cases in a 24 county area in western New York. The First Deputy Capital Defenders in Albany and Rochester are Mark Harris and William “Bill” Easton, respectively. Funding The office is funded by an appropriation from the State Operations budget. In the 2003-2004 fiscal year, the Legislature appropriated $13,095,000 for all capital defense in New York State. The CDO has 75 established staff lines that includes trial staff, appellate staff and administrative staff. Statistics The remainder of this report offers statistics showing how the 1995 law has been implemented in New York State.(Note 1).

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