Defense attorneys, mentally ill, and substance abusers: A study of Coconino County public defense attorneys

For my study, I utilized qualitative narrative interviews to discover the challenges experienced by public defense attorneys while representing clients with a mental disorder or a substance use problem, and the solutions they employ to combat these challenges. I interviewed attorneys from the Coconino County Public Defender's Office in Flagstaff, Arizona about their individual experiences defending special population clients. I also reviewed the literature pertaining to defense attorneys and the history of the deinstitutionalization and decarceration movements in the United States. This literature was a basis for this study's assumptions that the challenges experienced by public defense attorneys are increase of caseload of special clients, limited space in treatment centers, closing facilities, and budget cuts. The findings of this study show that the attorneys have shared experiences related to attorneys' suspicions that a client might be mentally ill, the challenges of representing mentally ill and substance abusive clients, and in the solutions they use to combat those challenges. These were discovered after extensive review of the transcribed interviews of the five participating attorneys.