Oregon Supreme Court dismisses case challenging state public defense system

The justices dismissed one case but agreed to hear another with similar arguments, restarting a monthslong process.
The Oregon Supreme Court late Friday dismissed a case designed to force changes in the state’s troubled public defense system.

The justices were considering whether a Marion County Circuit Court Judge could force a public defender to take a new client even if the lawyer said they had too many cases.

In a two-page order signed at 4:09 p.m., Justice Rebecca Duncan wrote that the issues before the court were resolved and that “this matter is therefore moot” because the attorney at the center of the case, Tim Downin, left his job at the Public Defender of Marion County.