At least 15 defendants in Seattle Municipal Court have gone weeks without being assigned an attorney over the past year, according to The Seattle Times.
In one case, a man who allegedly pulled a knife on someone and threatened to cut their throat while dressed as a wizard was released after waiting two weeks in jail following his arraignment. No lawyer was assigned, and the oversight was only discovered at his pretrial hearing.
According to The Seattle Times, the Department of Public Defense’s policy requires attorneys to visit new clients within one day of their arraignment to strategize and possibly negotiate their release…