A First Line of Defense
Typically, there are three or four arraignments in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Sunday mornings and frequently there are no lawyers present.
The Legal Aid Society, whose role is to represent those who otherwise would not have a lawyer, provides attorneys for arraignments in East Hampton on weekdays. They do not offer that service on weekends, when most arrests occur.
That was also the case in Southampton Town’s Justice Courts until early last month.
Carl Irace, an attorney who ran unsuccessfully for East Hampton Town justice, is among others taking part in a pilot program that provides lawyers for arraignments on weekends in the Southampton Town and Village Justice Courts.
“The judge isn’t there to explain. The attorney is there to explain, whether it is in plain English or Spanish, whatever it is. You’re translating the actions and the options of the law into words,” Mr. Irace said in an interview this week.
The program is the result of a class action lawsuit on behalf of indigent defendants brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which was settled in October 2014. The decision will eventually affect East Hampton, as well as other justice courts across the state.
Mr. Irace is on call every weekend and represents defendants only at arraignments. He gets paid a flat fee, no matter how many he handles in the two Southampton courts. “You cannot be retained, unless there is a pre-existing arrangement” as an ongoing counsel, he said. Mr. Irace does not recommend attorneys to his temporary clients, but provides guidance about the questions defendants need to ask prospective attorneys.
One of the most important questions a judge asks during an arraignment is about bail. A routine question, it nevertheless can seem quite daunting to a first-time defendant. Bail is not a form of punishment, but a mechanism to ensure the return of the defendant to court. A trained lawyer can help a judge decide on bail by pointing out a defendant’s connections in the community, employment, and lack of a criminal record, if that is the case.
One of Mr. Irace’s first arraignments was that of a woman charged with drunken driving after a serious accident. “She wasn’t a flight risk. It was her first arrest.” Bail was set at $10,000, an amount the woman could meet. “If I wasn’t there, bail would have been higher.”
Mr. Irace said he looks forward to the day the program comes to East Hampton. in the meantime, he makes the drive every weekend to Southampton to help ensure defendants receive due process under the law.