An Oregon man accused of repeatedly molesting and raping a child has been out of jail for more than 1 ½ years, his case unable to go forward. He faces at least 25 years in prison if found guilty, but first, he must be assigned a public defender — and a chronic shortage means neither the court nor the state has come up with one.
The same goes for two dozen other Oregon defendants accused of working together to sell a massive cache of drugs that included nine pounds of fentanyl, enough for 144,000 deadly doses. More than a year after those people were arrested and charged, the system still hasn’t been able to find public defenders for 10 of them and their case files gather dust.
Amanda Dalton, a lobbyist for the Oregon District Attorneys Association, told a subcommittee of state lawmakers Monday about these cases and others, stressing that prosecutors across the state are continuing their “urgent call for help” to address a public defender shortage that continues to careen out of control…