Judge John Coffey sat visibly frustrated on the bench in Lowell District Court on Wednesday.
Just days after a rare court-ordered protocol was set in motion, he found himself in an unusual position of letting criminal defendants accused of violent acts walk free due to a lack of legal representation.
A refusal by state-funded public defenders to take new cases has led to many different outcomes for defendants who cannot afford lawyers. Some defendants have been held in jail for weeks without an attorney. Others have been released without paying bail even as they face charges related to stabbings and domestic violence…