Counsel Quality and Client Match Effects in Indigent Defense (Figures)

Figure 1. Fee Schedule for Assigned Counsel in Bexar County, 2015 State Jail, 3rd Degree $100 2nd Degree 3rd Degree Capital $100 $100 $100 $400 $500 $750 1st Chair $3500 2nd Chair $2500 $200 $250 $350 1st Chair $1750 2nd Chair $1250 $200 $200 $200 $200 $75 $75 $75 $75 $75 $85 $100 Hourly Rate: Trial $75 $100 $125 Hourly Rate: Out of Court Time $50 $60 $75 Initial Jail Visit Flat Fee: Pleas Flat Fee: Post-Indictment Dismissals Flat Fee: Motion to Revoke Probation Flat Fee: Pre-Indictment Dismissals Flat Fee: Cases not disposed of by plea or dismissal Hourly Rate: Court Appearance Hourly Rate: Evid. Hearing 1st Chair $125 2nd Chair $115 1st Chair Voir Dire $100 2nd Chair $90 1st Chair Trial $150 2nd Chair $140 $80 Source: State of Texas and County of Bexar, “Joint Order Adopting Fee Schedule,” October 14, 2015. Document 67837. Table 1. Defendant Characteristics and Case Outcomes for Retained and Assigned Counsel Clients in Bexar County, Texas Retained (n=23,450) Appointed (n=41,173) Mean Std. dev Mean Std. dev Male 82.7% 79.7% Age at Offense 31.14 10.88 31.44 10.65 Previous Complaints 1.161 1.925 1.651 2.295 Previous Convictions 0.558 1.280 1.001 1.691 36.8% 48.5% State Jail Felony rd 47.5% 40.9% 2nd or 3 Degree Felony st 15.6% 10.6% 1 Degree / Capital Felony Neighborhood Characteristics Median Income $ 48,591 $ 25,703 $ 42,049 $ 22,305 Per Capita Income $ 18,584 $ 9,875 $ 16,290 $ 8,508 Poverty Rate 23.8% 16.4% 28.2% 17.2% Attorney Characteristics Male 91.3% 28.2% 76.7% 42.2% Distance from Residence to Attorney 8.738 14.542 10.930 28.152 Previous Cases 597.673 619.218 332.523 421.340 Years of Experience 19.03 9.77 15.48 9.52 Percent Appointed 37.0% 25.6% 77.7% 21.0% Race / Ethnic Match 46.7% 35.1% Law School Rank 16.3 6.84 16.0 6.74 Case Outcomes Convicted 38.7% 55.8% Dismissed 31.1% 19.1% Deferred Adjudication 30.0% 24.9% Guilty Plea 14.3% 15.8% Nolo Contendere 24.2% 39.6% Incarcerated 27.9% 46.9% Charges Reduced 11.2% 9.0% Bond $ 170,821 $ 34 $ 711,699 $ 31 Sentence (years) 7.02 24.80 21.42 29.46 Fine $ 135 $ 30 $ 370 $ 20 Table 2: Black, White, and Hispanic Clients in Bexar County, Texas Remanded Adjudicated Sentence (in Assigned Without Bond Guilty years) | Guilty Counsel 53.7% 51.0% 3.98 73.7% Black (n=10,885) 55.3% 53.4% 3.64 63.1% Hispanic (n=37,970) 43.2% 39.3% 3.46 58.2% White (n=15,768) Notes: All mean outcomes for black and Hispanic clients are statistically different from the mean for white clients with p<0.01 with the exception sentence conditional on guilt for Hispanic clients, where p=0.059. Table 3. Attorney Characteristics by Type of Appointment and Defendant Race Black Defendant Retained (n=2,862) Appointed (n=8,023) Hispanic Defendant Retained (n=14,000) Appointed (n=23,970) White Defendant Retained (n=6,588) Appointed (n=9,180) Male Distance from Client’s Residence (miles) Years on Texas Bar Law School Rank 19.3% 8.4% 83.4% 75.8% 9.2 10.6 17.8 15.4 15.4 15.9 46.3% 32.4% 93.1% 76.9% 7.8 10.6 19.3 15.4 16.5 15.9 59.2% 65.7% 90.8% 76.9% 10.6 12.1 18.9 15.7 16.4 16.1 Same Race as Client Black Attorney Hispanic Attorney White Attorney Table 4. Distribution of Attorney and Defendant Race Black Defendant Hispanic Defendant Retained 553 19.3% 213 1.5% Appointed 672 8.4% 1,088 4.5% Retained 541 18.9% 6,490 46.3% Appointed 2,148 26.8% 7,767 32.4% Retained 1,768 61.8% 7,297 52.1% Appointed 5,203 64.8% 15,115 63.0% White Defendant 120 1.8% 407 4.4% 2,563 38.9% 2,742 29.9% 3,905 59.2% 6,031 65.7% Table 5. Assigned vs. Retained Counsel Results – Pre-Adjudication Outcomes (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Remanded without Bond (mean = 0.52) Assigned Counsel 0.209*** 0.176*** 0.152*** 0.147*** 0.146*** [0.005] [0.004] [0.006] [0.008] [0.009] 2 Adjusted R 0.040 0.129 0.130 0.145 0.158 Ln Bond Amount (exp(mean) = $426,859) Assigned Counsel 1.427*** 1.067*** 1.067*** 1.038*** 1.024*** [0.033] [0.041] [0.041] [0.058] [0.060] 2 Adjusted R 0.038 0.148 0.148 0.163 0.176 Reduced Charge (mean = 0.098) Assigned Counsel -0.021*** 0.001 -0.001 -0.002 -0.004 [0.003] [0.003] [0.003] [0.004] [0.004] Adjusted R2 0.001 0.135 0.135 0.138 0.143 Client & Offense Y Y Y Y Controls Attorney Controls Y Y Y Attorney Fixed Y Y Effects Attorney-by-Year Y Fixed Effects Notes: All regressions include 64,623 observations, except for bond amount, which is missing in 2,667 cases. Those remanded without bond are assigned a bond amount of $10 million. Life sentences are set at 100 years. Client controls include gender, age at offence, race, total number of felony charges previously filed in Bexar County, total number of previous convictions in Bexar County, and median income, per capita income, and poverty rate in home block group. Case characteristics are fixed effects for court docket and worst offense type. Attorney controls include the natural log of distance between defendant’s residence and law office, number of cases worked in Bexar County as of the complaint filing date, the percent of previous cases where the attorney was assigned council as of the complaint filing date, and a dummy for whether or not the attorney is the same race as the defendant. Exponentiated mean values of logged outcomes are presented. Standard errors adjusted for heteroscedasticity and clusters at the defendant and, in columns (4) and (5), at the attorney level. Significant at +10%, *5%, **1%, and ***0.1% levels. Table 6. Assigned vs. Retained Counsel Results – Type of Adjudication (1) (2) (3) (4) Case Dismissed (mean = 0.234) Assigned Counsel -0.120*** -0.111*** -0.087*** -0.080*** [0.004] [0.004] [0.005] [0.007] 2 Adjusted R 0.019 0.079 0.081 0.099 Deferred Adjudication (mean = 0.267) Assigned Counsel -0.051*** -0.034*** -0.051*** -0.051*** [0.004] [0.004] [0.005] [0.006] 2 Adjusted R 0.003 0.204 0.205 0.218 Plead Nolo Contendere (mean = 0.340) Assigned Counsel 0.154*** 0.129*** 0.098*** 0.091*** [0.004] [0.004] [0.005] [0.007] 2 Adjusted R 0.024 0.132 0.135 0.169 Plead Guilty (mean = 0.152) Assigned Counsel 0.015*** 0.012*** 0.040*** 0.040*** [0.003] [0.003] [0.004] [0.005] Adjusted R2 0.0004 0.072 0.076 0.133 Guilty / Nolo Cont. Verdict (mean = 0.496) Assigned Counsel 0.171*** 0.144*** 0.138*** 0.130*** [0.004] [0.004] [0.005] [0.007] Adjusted R2 0.027 0.220 0.220 0.230 Client & Offense Y Y Y Controls Attorney Controls Y Y Attorney Fixed Effects Y Attorney-by-Year Fixed Effects (5) -0.076*** [0.007] 0.104 -0.058*** [0.007] 0.236 0.094*** [0.007] 0.181 0.039*** [0.006] 0.148 0.133*** [0.007] 0.237 Y Y Y Y Notes: All regressions include 64,623 observations. See Table 5 for additional notes. Standard errors adjusted for heteroscedasticity and clusters at the defendant and, in columns (4) and (5), at the attorney level. Significant at +10%, *5%, **1%, and ***0.1% levels. Table 7. Assigned vs. Retained Counsel Results – Case Outcomes (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) A. Unconditional Incarcerated (mean = 0.40) Assigned Counsel 0.190*** 0.147*** 0.147*** 0.139*** 0.144*** [0.004] [0.004] [0.005] [0.008] [0.008] Adjusted R2 0.0348 0.210 0.211 0.223 0.236 Ln Fine Amount (exp(mean) = $256) Assigned Counsel 1.009*** 0.999*** 0.806*** 0.753*** 0.720*** [0.028] [0.028] [0.036] [0.051] [0.053] Adjusted R2 0.023 0.090 0.091 0.110 0.118 Ln Sentence Length (exp(mean) = 14.4 days) Assigned Counsel 1.116*** 0.943*** 0.933*** 0.877*** 0.906*** [0.031] [0.028] [0.035] [0.051] [0.052] Adjusted R2 0.025 0.244 0.244 0.257 0.269 B. Conditional on Guilt Incarcerated | Guilty (mean = 0.806) Assigned Counsel 0.122*** 0.081*** 0.094*** 0.089*** 0.097*** [0.006] [0.006] [0.007] [0.009] [0.010] Adjusted R2 0.019 0.173 0.173 0.190 0.229 Ln Fine Amount | Guilty (exp(mean) = $1,426) Assigned Counsel 0.234*** 0.302*** 0.270*** 0.268*** 0.265*** [0.012] [0.010] [0.013] [0.016] [0.018] Adjusted R2 0.020 0.291 0.292 0.299 0.312 Ln Sentence Length | Guilty (exp(mean) = 213 days) Assigned Counsel 0.461*** 0.514*** 0.587*** 0.567*** 0.609*** [0.045] [0.040] [0.049] [0.064] [0.069] Adjusted R2 0.005 0.284 0.285 0.301 0.332 Client & Offense Y Y Y Y Controls Attorney Controls Y Y Y Attorney Fixed Effects Y Y Attorney-by-Year Fixed Y Y Effects Notes: Regressions in Panel A include 64,623 observations. Regressions in Panel B include 32,047 observations. Two sentences are missing from the data. Life sentences are set at 100 years. See Table 5 for additional notes. Standard errors adjusted for heteroscedasticity and clusters at the defendant and, in models 4 and 5, attorney level. Significant at +10%, *5%, **1%, and ***0.1% levels. Assigned Assigned × Black Atty Assigned × Hisp Atty Assigned × White Atty Observations Assigned Assigned × Black Atty Assigned × Hisp Atty Assigned × White Atty Observations Assigned Assigned × Black Atty Assigned × Hisp Atty Assigned × White Atty Observations Table 8. Race and Ethnicity Match Results, by Defendant Race RWB Plead Guilty or Nolo Cont. Ln Sent | Guilty A. Black Defendants 0.102*** 0.099*** 0.123*** 0.143*** 0.306+ 1.443*** [0.025] [0.026] [0.021] [0.041] [0.182] [0.277] -0.004 0.021 1.135*** [0.037] [0.046] [0.333] 0.014 -0.007 -0.198 [0.069] [0.066] [0.544] 0.001 -0.024 -1.258*** [0.038] [0.046] [0.340] 9,443 9,443 4,272 B. Hispanic Defendants 0.140*** 0.179*** 0.122*** 0.164*** 0.628*** 0.491** [0.015] [0.016] [0.011] [0.014] [0.093] [0.151] -0.160* -0.100 -0.396 [0.062] [0.062] [0.368] 0.039+ 0.042* -0.137 [0.021] [0.017] [0.177] -0.033 -0.039* 0.161 [0.022] [0.017] [0.178] 35,761 35,761 18,659 C. White Defendant 0.165*** 0.136*** 0.163*** 0.110*** 0.847** 0.885*** [0.027] [0.019] [0.022] [0.017] [0.310] [0.206] -0.0789 0.039 0.039 [0.068] [0.070] [1.044] 0.039 0.054+ -0.046 [0.034] [0.028] [0.379] -0.029 -0.053+ 0.038 [0.033] [0.027] [0.363] 13,975 13,975 4,730 Notes: See Table 5 for notes. All models include case, client, and attorney controls, attorney fixed effects, and attorney-by-year fixed effects, with relevant singleton observations excluded. Standard errors adjusted for heteroscedasticity and clusters at the defendant and attorney level. Significant at +10%, *5%, **1%, and ***0.1% levels. Table 9. Defendant Preference Matches and Case Outcomes Full Sample RWB Local Minor Only Crimes 0.143*** [0.0166] 0.000952 Assigned × Ln(Distance) [0.00725] -0.021** Ln(Distance) [0.00658] 0.141*** [0.0168] 0.00235 [0.00755] -0.02*** [0.00672] 0.151*** [0.0182] 0.00162 [0.00831] -0.0181* [0.00768] Poor Areas A. 0.141*** [0.0187] -0.00123 [0.00913] 0.141*** [0.0187] 0.165*** [0.0170] -0.0119 Assigned × Experience [0.0101] 0.166*** [0.0172] -0.0127 [0.0102] 0.165*** [0.0184] -0.00725 [0.0108] 0.173*** [0.0204] -0.0208+ [0.0121] 0.170*** [0.0225] -0.0288 Assigned × Male Atty [0.0245] Observations 64,623 0.172*** [0.0227] -0.0314 [0.0248] 62,718 0.175*** [0.0242] -0.0245 [0.0262] 45,015 0.179*** [0.0301] -0.0462 [0.0318] 45,919 Assigned Assigned Assigned Plead Guilty or Nolo Cont. Full Local Minor Poor Full Sample Only Crimes Areas Sample Distance from Defendant’s Home to Law Office 0.153*** 0.156*** 0.161*** 0.148*** 0.571*** [0.0135] [0.0137] [0.0159] [0.0161] [0.128] -0.0104+ -0.0122+ -0.0152* -0.00759 0.0375 [0.00607] [0.00639] [0.00707] [0.00794] [0.0626] -0.015** -0.014** -0.0102+ 0.148*** -0.0789 [0.00502] [0.00517] [0.00568] [0.0161] [0.0570] B. Years Since Texas Bar Admission 0.149*** 0.149*** 0.139*** 0.166*** 0.742*** [0.0150] [0.0152] [0.0177] [0.0180] [0.157] -0.00912 -0.00924 -0.00395 -0.0184* -0.0621 [0.00757] [0.00765] [0.00928] [0.00927] [0.0807] C. Male Attorney 0.130*** 0.131*** 0.135*** 0.140*** 0.399** [0.0181] [0.0183] [0.0188] [0.0221] [0.142] 0.00529 0.00307 -0.00208 -0.00559 0.275+ [0.0198] [0.0200] [0.0211] [0.0238] [0.159] 64,623 62,718 45,015 45,919 32,047 Ln Sent | Guilty Local Minor Only Crimes 0.544*** [0.128] 0.0524 [0.0635] -0.0885 [0.0578] Poor Areas 0.911*** 0.534*** [0.152] [0.140] 0.00031 0.0621 [0.0738] [0.0742] -0.103 0.534*** 0.911*** [0.140] 0.746*** 0.968*** 0.769*** [0.157] [0.182] [0.192] -0.0655 -0.0339 -0.0799 [0.0805] [0.0964] [0.0911] 0.388** 0.741*** 0.285+ [0.144] [0.165] [0.160] 0.285+ 0.197 0.398* [0.161] [0.185] [0.180] 31,109 21,786 24,056 Notes: See Table 5 for notes. All models include case, client, and attorney controls, attorney fixed effects, and attorney-by-year fixed effects, with relevant singleton observations excluded. Attorney experience is measured in decades. Standard errors adjusted for heteroscedasticity and clusters at the defendant and attorney level. Significant at +10%, *5%, **1%, and ***0.1% levels.