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11/11/2008
BetOnSports defendant's time with attorneys in St. Charles County raises more questions
ST. CHARLES — Allegations of special treatment at the St. Louis County Jail brought a federal prisoner to St. Charles this summer, and now, some attorneys say his daily consultations with lawyers are limiting other inmates' legal access.
Gary Kaplan has been in jail for more than 18 months, awaiting trial on accusations he ran an illegal gambling service. The multimillionaire was moved to the St. Charles County Jail in July after he was accused of receiving special treatment that included a host of contraband items in his jail cell in St. Louis County. Since he's been in St. Charles, attorneys — particularly those in the Public Defenders Office — say they haven't been able to spend adequate time with their clients because Kaplan and his lawyers have occupied one of the jail's two private visitation rooms for hours each day.
"His rights shouldn't be any more important than my clients' rights," said Tracy Brown, one of six public defenders in the St. Charles County office. She and her colleagues represent about 120 defendants housed in the St. Charles County Jail.
Public defenders say Kaplan's attorneys are at the jail sometimes from early morning to evening.
"Inevitably, the less I see my clients, the less chance I'm going to have to make a good connection with them," Brown said. "It's hard for them to trust me when they hardly see me."
Freeman Bosley Jr., one of Kaplan's attorneys, said his client actually is spending less time with his attorneys now than he was in St. Louis County because of jail-required breaks that pull Kaplan away from the visitation room.
The issue came to a head last week at a monthly meeting of the circuit's judges. Bosley presented a letter to presiding Judge Ted House offering compromises, such as arranging a schedule for Kaplan's attorneys that left the room open during parts of the day and using a jail courtroom for visitation. The county now has opened a judge's chambers in the jail for use by attorneys and their clients.
Bosley said it was necessary for Kaplan to have contact with his attorneys daily.
"If the amount of working hours in the interview room are limited or reduced, it will greatly diminish the amount of work that we accomplish in preparation for Mr. Kaplan's upcoming trial," Bosley wrote. "In a normal 9-5 business day, with all of the mandated breaks, we often work less than 2.5 hours as it is."
Brooklyn-born Kaplan, 49, turned a small New York bookmaking business into a billion-dollar international online gambling operation known as BetOnSports. His net worth has been reported at more than $100 million.
Bosley said Kaplan has been jailed for more than 18 months, held without bail, in a white collar case with no trial date. More violent offenders have been able to post bond, he said.
U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said Kaplan is responsible for his own incarceration.
"Mr. Kaplan was arrested with a fistful of passports and a history of contact with numerous countries," she said. "His actions make him the definition of a flight risk."
Kaplan was arrested in the Dominican Republic on March 28, 2007, some seven months after he was indicted.
Richard Scheibe, who heads the St. Charles County Public Defenders Office, said client visitation was difficult even before Kaplan because of the jail layout, but his presence has made it a larger issue. He doesn't begrudge Kaplan his time with his attorneys, he said, and jail officials are limited in what they can do.
"It's to their credit that they're allowing such access," Scheibe said. "But whoever designed that jail left them with two rooms to use."
John Sonderegger, a spokesman for St. Charles County, said jail officials are trying to strike a balance. They don't want Kaplan to receive special treatment, he said, but they also don't want the eventual result of his legal battle overturned because of a lack of access to his attorneys. |
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发表于 2008-11-13 09:16
