Public defenders agency to pay for Jonesboro shooters civil case

JONESBORO — The head of the state's Public Defenders Commission was left Monday wondering how to find as much as $500,000 to cover the cost of defending two boys facing a civil suit for their role in a school shooting that left five dead and 10 wounded.

Circuit Judge David Burnett of Osceola ordered the commission to pick up the tab for defending convicted Westside Middle School shooters Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden in a civil lawsuit filed against them by the families of the dead.

"It would wipe us out and then some," said Didi Sallings, executive director of the Arkansas Public Defenders Commission. She estimated defending the two boys would cost from $300,000 to $500,000.

Sallings also worried about the precedent that might be set for other child offenders facing civil lawsuits.

"Every time a kid throws a rock through a window, that kid could get the county to pay for his defense," Sallings said.

At a morning hearing, Burnett appointed Jonesboro attorney Ray Nichols to represent Mitchell and Ron Hunter of Harrisburg to represent Andrew.

Burnett said the attorneys' fees and expenses should be covered by the county's Administration of Justice Fund, a fund established by Arkansas Act 1256 of 1995 to help public defenders pay for representing indigent clients accused of criminal offenses.

It also provides funding for the defense of those deemed incompetent in civil cases.

Burnett said the two boys are legally considered incompetent for the purposes of a civil trial because they are children. Arkansas Code 14-20-102 allows for "representation in civil and criminal matters of persons deemed incompetent by the court due to minority or mental incapacity..." Both boys are under the age of 18.

When Andrew and Mitchell appeared in juvenile court last August to face criminal charges stemming from the shooting, Circuit-Chancery Judge Ralph Wilson of Osceola ruled the boys were mentally competent to stand trial.

Craighead County Treasurer Russell Patton said the county currently has $153,872.17 in its Justice Fund, but will give $84,000 of that money to the Craighead County Public Defenders office at the end of the year for office expenses. That leaves less than $70,000 to pay for the defense of those unable to afford an attorney during the year, Patton said.

Whatever is left in the Justice Fund at the end of 1999 is carried over to the next year, Patton said.

It still won't be enough to pay for such a high-profile civil case, he added. "I guess it will be up to the Quorum Court to figure out where the rest of it comes from," he said.

On Monday, the attorneys involved in the civil suit against Mitchell and Andrew said they expected to try the case sometime next summer.

Jonesboro attorney Randel Miller, who is representing Mitchell's mother, Gretchen Woodard, and Memphis attorney Mike Roberts, who is representing Mitchell's father, Scott Johnson, both agreed to help Nichols as co-counsel for Mitchell at no cost. They said they would step aside if any conflicts of interest arose.

The two boys, their parents and two gun manufacturers, along with Doug Golden, Andrew's grandfather, were named defendants in a civil lawsuit filed last year by families of the four students and teacher who were killed in the March 24, 1998, schoolyard shooting.

Jonesboro attorney Bobby McDaniel filed the civil lawsuit in August 1998. It claimed the boys, their parents and Andrew's grandfather were negligent in the five deaths. Remington Arms Co. and Universal Firearms were also named as defendants because McDaniel said the gun companies made the weapons used in the shooting and failed to equip the weapons with trigger-locking devices.

Police said Andrew, then 11, set a false fire alarm in the Westside Middle School building and then ran into nearby woods. Andrew and Mitchell, then 13, fired upon children and teachers as they left the building. Four students and teacher Shannon Wright were killed. Ten others were wounded.

Wilson found the two guilty of five counts of capital murder and 10 counts of first-degree battery. Mitchell and Andrew are being held in the state Youth Services Division's juvenile center at Alexander until they turn 18.

Craighead County public defenders Val Price and Bill Howard represented the two boys during their Aug. 11, 1998, juvenile court hearing. At the time, the case was a criminal matter and the families could not afford attorneys. Burnett removed the two from representing the boys in the civil lawsuit last winter because the Public Defender's Office is not obligated to provide attorneys for civil cases.

Jonesboro attorney Dustin McDaniel, who, with his father, Bobby McDaniel, represents the families of the five dead victims, said he expects trying the civil lawsuit would take three weeks. He said he would not settle out of court.

"We're not after any money," he said. "We feel the criminal justice system failed the victims." He said he wanted to legally prevent Mitchell, Andrew or their families from profiting on the killing by sales of books, television programs or movie contracts.

Sallings said it will be costly to defend the charges because it will require several expert defense witnesses. She added attorneys could charge from $150 to $200 an hour.

"Depositions take time and then there's the court time," she said. "It would cost in the ballpark of $300,000 to $500,000. It's a scary situation."

Price said he received $32 an hour when defending Damien Echols in his 1994 capital murder trial. Echols was convicted of capital murder in the deaths of three West Memphis 8-year-olds.

Later in the day Monday, Burnett said attorneys would probably charge between $40 and $100 an hour to defend Mitchell and Andrew.

"I don't know how the county will pay for it," he said. "In cases of great expenses, counties have applied to the state for assistance. I'm going by the statutes that allow the appointment."

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