Palefsky quits as chief public defender

Harvey Palefsky has resigned as chief of the Public Defender’s Office, citing “family responsibilities” as the reason for his decision.

Palefsky’s resignation is effective today, which is the expiration date of his two-year contract.

“Although I would truly desire to continue in my position, the declining health of my father and other family responsibilities require that I return to the mainland sooner as expected,” Palefsky wrote in his resignation letter submitted yesterday to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio.

Palefsky will move back to Colorado, where he worked as deputy state public defender from 1992 to 1997 before coming to Saipan.

A graduate of New York University School of Law, Palefsky will again work as public defender at the Colorado State effective July 26.

“While I will truly miss sharing in their accomplishments, I am confident that the office will continue to provide quality indigent defense services to the CNMI people after my departure,” Palefsky stated in his letter.

He has recommended Asst. Public Defender Masood Karimipour to take his place.

“Mr. Karimipour is an experienced and extraordinarily talented criminal defense lawyer with very strong administrative skills,” Palefsky told the governor.

Asked to describe his stint at the Public Defender’s Office, Palefsky replied, “It’s been a wonderful experience. I had the chance to work with a lot of talented and dedicated people.”

Despite the manpower shortage in his office, Palefsky said his staff has managed to “upgrade the quality of client representation.”

When Palefsky joined the Public Defender’s Office, the agency only had three lawyers, which included himself. Dan DeRienzo, then chief public defender, moved back to the mainland and Greg Baka moved to the US District’s Office.

“With only three lawyers, it was impossible for us to represent the number of clients. The crime rate continues to grow, so does our caseload,” Palefsky said in an interview.

In 1997, the Public Defender’s Office handled a total of 874 cases, which increased to 1,150 cases in 1998. A public defender handles an average of 80 cases.

“Right now, we have five lawyers and the situation has stabilized,” Palefsky said.

A new public defender from the mainland has been hired by the government and is expected to arrive in August.

The Public Defender’s Office is currently operating on a budget of $644,000. While the current appropriations law has authorized the agency to hire six lawyers, Palefsky said his office has maintained only five in observance of the government’s austerity policy.

“It’s frustrating; it’s frustrating for all government offices that need a bigger staff,” he said. “The only thing that made up for lack of manpower is the hard work and dedication of our people.”

He added that this office has raised the qualification level by raising the experience requirement to five years of law practice.

“Now, we have lawyers here who have been practicing for 10 years,” Palefsky said.

Palefsky, however, deplored that the Public Defender’s Office has been the “most neglected” unit of the local criminal justice system in terms of federal grants.

“There are millions of money thrown into the Commonwealth justice system, but the training funds for our office have been cut, ” Palefsky said.

Some members of his staff have gone through different training programs on their own expenses.

“This is one problem that I’ve always complained about,” Palefsky said.

He said he has brought the issue to the authorities who had “promised” to deal with his concern.

“Promises were made. But perhaps they were empty promises,” he said.