Pilot Evaluation of the Early and Continuous Access to Counsel Public Defense Intervention

• In Event: Early and Continuous Access to Counsel to Improve the Quality of Justice in Virginia

Abstract

This study describes the preliminary findings for a randomized control trial (RCT) aimed at evaluating the early and continuous counsel (ECAC) intervention for public defense clients in Halifax County, Virginia. ECAC provides legal representation and advice to defendants from arrest to trial, providing public defense counsel at advisement compared to the usual practice of no representation (RAU group). In concert with local practitioners, the research team implemented an adapted random sample design to assign defendants to ECAC or representation as usual (RAU) based on day of the week. This study examines the impact of ECAC on pretrial release, bail amount, pretrial detention, new pretrial criminal activity and failure to appear, plea bargaining, trial outcome, sentence length. The administrative data comes from public court records and jail records along with statewide criminal history data. This study presents preliminary findings for treatment and control groups and uses statistical methods to compare the outcomes and test the hypotheses that ECAC improves representation, reduces detention, enhances perceptions of trust and legitimacy in the legal system, and decreases recidivism.

Authors

• Christopher Scott Inkpen, RTI International

• Debbie Dawes, RTI International

• Alan Barnosky, RTI International

• Venita Embry, RTI International