DeWolfe is named Md. Public Defender 

Posted: 8:09 pm Tue, December 8, 2009
By Brendan Kearney
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

Montgomery County District Public Defender Paul B. DeWolfe Jr. has been named the new Maryland Public Defender, bringing to an end an interim period at the Office of the Public Defender that began when Nancy S. Forster was fired in August.

Charles H. “Chip” Dorsey III, headquarters supervisor of the public defender unit at the Wabash Avenue district court in Baltimore, who had applied for the top job, will be DeWolfe’s deputy.

“It’s a thrill,” said DeWolfe, 61. “I’ve worked 19 years in the public defender’s office and worked with many great people in the office and I’m just delighted to be stepping into this new job.”

The three-member Board of Trustees of the Office of the Public Defender, which faced scrutiny for the Forster ouster, made the appointments Tuesday morning, a day after interviewing the three finalists for the job.

T. Wray McCurdy, chairman of the board, said choosing DeWolfe over the third candidate, Towson solo Richard M. Karceski, was “the most difficult decision I’ve made in the 25 years I’ve been practicing.”

Calling Karceski “frankly, the defense lawyer that I aspire to be,” McCurdy shrugged off as “rumor” reports that Karceski’s insistence on certain conditions took him out of the running.

All the district public defenders were in favor of DeWolfe, McCurdy said. “The agency needs to heal, so he’s a great guy for that.”

‘Tough times’

DeWolfe, who has led the 32-lawyer, 60-employee office in Montgomery County since 2000, ascends to the top of the embattled agency at a difficult time.

The board terminated Forster by a 2-1 vote, with Margaret A. Mead joining McCurdy and Theresa L. Moore dissenting, after disagreements over how to spend the office’s budget and what programs to cut.

The state Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee held a hearing in late October to discuss the board and its actions. A bill has already been submitted to increase the size and decrease the power of the board.

State Sen. C. Anthony Muse, one of Forster’s most ardent supporters and the sponsor of the emergency legislation, was furious yesterday that the board acted again before the legislature could intervene.

“I think it’s a sad day for us and I think it’s a black eye to the state of Maryland,” said Muse, adding that he did not know DeWolfe. “I think they pretty much thumbed their nose at the legislature, railroaded it through, and I think it’s wrong.”

In addition, an audit of the agency released late last month faulted the office for routinely overspending and allowing its caseload to overwhelm line public defenders. Twenty-three attorneys have been cut this fiscal year, Interim Public Defender Elizabeth L. Julian noted in her response to the audit.

“These are tough times,” DeWolfe said. “We’re going to have to hit the ground running.”

He said he plans to begin consulting with district public defenders across the state and division chiefs in Baltimore immediately on decisions to be made, including whether to implement the changes proposed by the board that led to Forster’s ouster.

“That’s how I intend to manage the office, in a very collaborative manner,” DeWolfe said.

Down-to-earth

Those who know DeWolfe have confidence in his abilities.

Sen. Brian E. Frosh, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, called DeWolfe “a terrific lawyer” and “an excellent administrator,” while Shaun Adamec, Gov. Martin O’Malley’s press secretary, said DeWolfe is “highly respected.”

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, who faced off against DeWolfe as Montgomery County State’s Attorney for six years, said DeWolfe was always reasonable in negotiations and “willing to get his hands dirty” handling cases himself.

“He knows when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em. He’s a straight shooter,” Gansler said.

Barry Helfand, a Rockville criminal defense attorney who has known DeWolfe his entire career, called him “down to earth” and hard-working. And Paul Kemp of Venable LLP said DeWolfe “may be the nicest guy who practices law in Montgomery County.”

“It’s a wonderful end to a very difficult story involving Nancy Forster and all that,” Kemp said.

A fellow in the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, DeWolfe is president of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association and immediate past president of the Montgomery County Bar Association. He unsuccessfully ran for state delegate in 1998.

One of his most notable clients was former Motown record producer Lawrence Horn, who is serving life in prison for hiring a hitman to kill his former wife, child and the family nurse. Another was Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad, who fired him.

DeWolfe lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Patricia. His deputy, Brian D. Shefferman, will be his acting replacement in his old office.

Other changes

His new deputy, Dorsey, 49, has spent almost as many years as DeWolfe at the Office of the Public Defender. The son of the legendary executive director of the Legal Aid Bureau, from which the Office of the Public Defender was born in 1971, said he is honored to follow in his father’s large footsteps.

“If I could be a third of the man that he was then I would be a successful man but representing indigent clients runs in our family,” said Dorsey, whose younger brother, Martin, also works in the office as a felony attorney.

Completing the leadership shakeup, Patricia L. Chappell, who had been acting deputy under Julian, was appointed director of budget and management operations. Julian will return to her previous position as Baltimore City District Public Defender.