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The CLARK COUNTY SPECIAL PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICE was established in 1997. The current Special Public Defender, David Schieck, was part of the committee that created the office in 1997, recognizing the need for qualified, specialized representation for defendants charged with murder.
The Special Public Defender’s office handles the majority of the death penalty cases, cases involving juveniles charged with murder as well as murder cases in which there are conflicts for the Clark County Public Defender’s office.
The mission statement for the Clark County Special Public Defenders Office is to provide highly qualified and motivated attorneys to provide aggressive ethical representation to our clients. The office also provides full and complete investigations by resourceful, experienced investigators, through both the Guilt phase and the Sentencing Phase. We locate, retain and present appropriate expert testimony in the course of our thorough defense. We provide COMPLETE REPRESENTATION to our clients through appeal.
In interviews published in the Las Vegas Sun, Mr. Schieck challenged his attorneys. "Communicating with the client is extremely important," I feel that communicating with the client is the most important thing our attorneys can do. "We have to make sure every defendant gets the most effective representation possible". Phil Kohn , the current Clark County Public Defender has lauded the office, saying that Mr. Schieck "has got a great office with great employees."
The Goals for the office are: (1) provide each Murder team attorney with sufficient experience and training to be rule 250 (death penalty) qualified; (2) meet the case load criteria of the A.B.A. both on the Murder Team as well as the Family Defense Project; (3) provide additional assistance to the clients of the Family Defense Project through the services of trained social workers; and (4) to provide comprehensive mitigation support to the Murder team through the acquisition of a specialty investigator;
The Special Public Defender’s Office also provides legal representation to parents who are at risk of having their parental rights terminated. The office has three attorneys dedicated to the Family Defense Project who are supervised by Jane Femiano.
The mission of the Family Defense Project is to provide comprehensive, compassionate representation by HIGHLY QUALIFIED, ETHICAL, AND MOTIVATED ATTORNEYS to parents who are at risk of losing their children. To provide our clients’ legal advice and referrals to appropriate SOCIAL SERVICES to achieve the goal of safely reuniting families under the supervision of the Court. |