Since August of 2005, I have been a public defender in the Dependency Court, which is a fancy name for the CPS court. Dependency cases typically start when children are taken (detained) by Children's Services and placed in temporary foster care. At the first court hearing, the children (of one family) are appointed a public defender to reresent their interests. Parents who show up are each appointed a separate public defender.
There are five public defenders in our court. In any given case, each of us may represent a parent or children, depending on the rotation of appointments. At the present time, I represent approximately 150 children, and roughly twice as many parents. Besides myself, Dale Rasmussen, the other public defenders are: Myra Bailey, Christine Zebley, Tamara Solano and Amy King. Jennifer Beck is associated with Tamara Solano and shares her caseload. David Kennedy represents the interests of Children's Services. Our current judge is Tamara Mosbarger.
I feel that we have a very good group of attorneys in our court. Because of the varied nature of our appointments, we may take opposing positions with a certain attorney on one case, but be in complete agreement on the next. We cooperate together and harmonize well as a group. We back each other up and share information. There is a friendly and collegial atmosphere amongst the attorneys, the judge, court personnel and CSD workers.
We see terrible family situations in our court. Simple neglect of children is standard for our court, and it gets worse from there. Typically, the parents may be addicted to drugs or alcohol. Methamphetamine use is common. Sometimes children have been physically or sexually abused. Occasionally, children have been abused to the point of death. No matter what the situation, or the individual culpability of parents, the duty of the public defender is to protect the interests of his or her client.
I feel that the variety and complexity of these dependency cases has provided me with valuable insights. If I am elected as DA of Butte County, I will miss my colleagues in the Dependency Court, but will look forward to new challenges in my career.
