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Office of the Public Defender

ABOUT THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER

  • Lawrence M. Sullivan, Esquire has been the Public Defender of the State of Delaware since 1970. He has been appointed and re-appointed to six (6) consecutive terms by five (5) Governors, both Democratic and Republican.

  • His responsibility is to represent every person who cannot afford a lawyer who has been arrested or charged for a crime for which they may be sent to jail.

  • The Public Defender employs seventy-one (71) skilled Assistant Public Defenders to represent individuals who are accused of a crime. His assistant public defenders average eighteen (18) years experience at the Bar.

  • These Defenders do not work for the judges, the police or the Attorney General. They work exclusively for their indigent clients.

  • These Defenders are experienced trial lawyers and members of the Delaware Bar sworn to protect the rights of the defendants that they represent.

  • The Public Defender's Office provides access to interpreters, criminal investigators, forensic nurses, psycho-forensic evaluators, psychological and/or medical or psychiatric examinations, and other experts as needed.

  • The Public Defender, as Vice Chair of the Delaware Criminal Justice Council and Chairman of the Council's Videophone Committee, has authority over a statewide videophone system with more than 95 locations throughout the state to increase the quality of services available to indigent clients.


Last Updated: Thursday, 26-Jul-2007 11:15:19 EDT
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