Supes to Discuss Threatened Public Defender Lawsuit Tuesday 

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The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will convene in closed session Tuesday to discuss its newly hired public defender, whether he is qualified to hold his post and whether it should brave the threat of a lawsuit in order to keep him.

As we reported Wednesday, local attorney Patrik Griego sent the county a letter threatening litigation if it doesn’t prove that David Marcus is qualified to hold the position of public defender or remove him from it.

Marcus, who was appointed to the post Feb. 7 and started work Monday, has come under fire from members of the local defense bar who think the process used to hire him was tainted and are concerned about several aspects of Marcus’ resume. (Read more about this in past Journal coverage here.)

Now, Griego has raised the question of whether Marcus is legally qualified to hold the post. California Government Code Section 27701 holds that a person is not eligible to take the office of public defender unless he or she “has been a practicing attorney in all of the courts of the state for at least the year preceding” his or her appointment. As we’ve reported before, it’s not entirely clear what Marcus has been doing since leaving his position as Lassen County’s public defender in 2011. He has retained his active California bar license but has been living in Florida and apparently not practicing criminal law.

Despite numerous requests from the Journal, County Counsel Jeff Blanck has not returned calls seeking comment about Marcus’ qualifications or Griego’s threat. Griego declined to comment when contacted by the Journal today, but said earlier this week that if the county doesn’t show that Marcus is qualified or let him go, he intends to ask a Humboldt County judge to intercede and block the appointment.

Read more about Marcus and the threat of litigation in past Journal coverage here.

The issue appears on the supes' agenda as a conference with legal counsel regarding threatened litigation.