Judge Benjamin Bloom listens during a dismissal hearing for accused rapist Brandon Lee Roy at the Jackson County Courthouse Thursday. Bloom did not dismiss charges against any defendants.

Brandon Lee Roy, 25, of Central Point, was visibly shaking and hard to understand through slurred speech as he appeared before Judge Benjamin Bloom on Thursday to get his rape case dismissed due to a lack of court-appointed counsel.

So he asked his father and permanent guardian, Steven Roy, to speak on his behalf. The elder Roy explained that his son had suffered a traumatic brain injury and does not have the capability to make major decisions. Therefore, the elder Roy said, his son would be better off in a more structured environment outside of prison.

“Your honor, Brandon is at a cognitive awareness level of 5 or 6 — they require round-the-clock supervision and care,” Steven Roy said. “I understand there’s a crisis with lawyers. … I can live next to Brandon until he gets this whole thing squared away. I’m all that he’s got right now.”

But a victim who said she was Roy’s caregiver told the court she does not believe the man accused of raping her on March 12 is as mentally unstable as he appears.

“I watched him (Roy) sexually harass women for years, trying to get him help, until I was the one who got hurt,” the woman told the court. “He’s not safe out in the world.”

And then, former Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Lisa Greif stood up in court and volunteered to take Roy’s case.

“If you’re not going to let him out, I’ll take him pro bono. Tonight,” Greif said. “This is terrible.”

The tense exchange came during a hearing Thursday in which Bloom, the presiding judge of Jackson County Circuit Court, considered close to 20 motions from defendants asking to have their cases dismissed due to lack of court-appointed counsel. Their crimes ranged from menacing to sexual abuse.

Bloom did not dismiss any cases Thursday. The majority of defendants had their motions denied and were kept in jail. Three defendants were released from jail but are due back in court.

One case was considered moot when a lawyer, Dirk Doyle, appeared in court stating he would represent the defendant, Chastity Pinedo, who was charged with three felonies.

Jackson County and other parts of the state are experiencing a shortage of public defenders because many of them have hit their case limits, as outlined in their contract with the Office of Public Defense Services. Unlike prosecutors, who are state employees, public defenders in Oregon operate under contract that sets annual limits on caseloads. Because many attorneys have hit their limits, defendants are having to wait until the next contract period begins in July to see movement in their cases. As a result, many are petitioning to have their charges dismissed.

The shortage was front and center Thursday in Bloom’s courtroom, where 35 attorneys, family members of defendants and victims filled the gallery.

Speaking to each defendant one at a time via video feed from the Jackson County Jail, Bloom told them they were appearing before him without an attorney — which meant they were representing themselves, therefore anything they said could be used against them.

Bloom explained to defendants they were without an attorney not because OPDS did not want to provide one for them but because of the public defender shortage.

“You have the right to have counsel, and you don’t have one, and that’s a failure,” Bloom said. “It’s just plain and simple a failure.”

Later, Bloom said he would not appoint civil attorneys or those who are “maxed out” of cases to represent defendants, as alluded to in a response by the district attorney’s office to the mass filing of motions to dismiss.

“We’re going to work with the system to see what’s available,” Bloom said.

‘Less extreme remedies’Deputy District Attorney Wade Austin Hilsher represented the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office in court Thursday, arguing why each of the defendants who appeared should not have their case dismissed.

The prosecutor had filed a 10-page response in each defendant’s case which acknowledged that defendants have a right to a court-appointed attorney, and there is a “need for a timely, full and real solution to the public defense crisis in Oregon.”

But, Hilsher wrote, the state still has “inherent police powers” and has a duty to protect the public by prosecuting criminal defendants. Thus, the court should not dismiss cases, he wrote.

“The extreme measure is inappropriate, especially without serious attempts at less-extreme measures for mitigation and resolution,” Hilsher wrote.

One suggested remedy was for the court to appoint any state employee or elected official who holds an active law license.

Another remedy, Hilsher wrote, could be to enlist private lawyers, as there are “countless more” of them in Jackson County.

“Private attorneys practicing in Jackson County should no longer be given a choice if they want to maintain their license,” he said.

In an interview after Thursday’s hearing, Hilsher said that despite the solutions he outlined to the court, the best solution is for OPDS to find more public defenders.

“I think it would be fair to say all the potential remedies in my response are not the most ideal of remedies. They are just remedies that would be available to the court prior to the extreme measure of dismissal.”

Hilsher said he believed Bloom was fair in his rulings.

“I think it’s a hard position to be put in, as a judge, making these type of decisions,” Hilsher said. “He needs to weigh a lot of different factors and keep in mind all of the stakeholders.”

Hilsher added, “We are pleased with the outcome and the ability to continue prosecuting our cases. … We have a responsibility to protect the public and support the rights of crime victims.”

Hilsher said the defendants were “well within their rights” to ask for dismissals.

“Going forth, more than likely, more motions like this will be made until there is a solution to the crisis,” Hilsher said.

Steven Roy said in an interview after the hearing that he is “bummed out” so many people in Jackson County and other parts of the state don’t have representation.

“Getting a lawyer in Southern Oregon is really, really hard,” Roy said. “It’s a crisis right now.”

It’s why Roy is thankful a former judge agreed to take on his son’s case for free.

“You watch these cases fly by, you see these people’s expressions; you feel for them,” Roy said. “And right now, these judges and lawyers have people’s fate in their hands.”