A Central Oregon public defender poorly handled dozens of criminal cases by not reviewing evidence, failing to conduct his own investigations and not communicating with clients, according to a report prepared for the Oregon Public Defense Commission.

In one case, a client who was not adequately informed about his situation, wound up deported to Mexico, where his family believes he was murdered, the report says. 

The report, which was released Thursday, was prepared for the commission by the Oregon Justice Resource Center, which reviewed cases handled by attorney Jason Munn, who worked in Jefferson and Crook counties. The resource center is a nonprofit that advocates for criminal justice issues.

The report says Munn’s clients later faced barriers to relief, which can include vacated convictions, dismissed indictments, eliminated restitution and sentencing changes. It says his case “illustrates the ways in which Oregon’s public defense system has failed its providers and their clients.”

“Oregon’s public defense system failed Mr. Munn’s clients,” said Steve Wax, co-director of The FA:IR Law Project at the Oregon Justice Resource Center. “There has been a lack of oversight meaning public defenders who aren’t doing a good enough job aren’t being identified soon enough.”

Munn denied any wrongdoing and stood by his conduct as a defense attorney in an interview with The Bulletin. He said he reviewed evidence in “each and every one” of the cases he handled and diligently worked with his clients. He said he was not given any notice of the center’s report.

“I vehemently deny that there is any case in which a client blindly entered into a plea agreement not knowing the evidence the state had against them,” he said.

The resource center’s report stemmed from a complaint Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Brentley Foster filed with the Oregon State Bar against Munn in June 2020. She alleged that before advising clients on whether they should plead guilty, Munn didn’t request or review documents, including police reports, “in more than 96 cases.”

In at least two of those cases, the client was sentenced to prison, the report said.

Foster’s complaint ultimately led to a decision by the Oregon State Bar Disciplinary Board in August 2023 to suspend Munn’s law license for two years.

Munn disputes the bar’s findings and is appealing his suspension to the Oregon Supreme Court.

Foster told The Bulletin on Thursday that she had been concerned that Munn hadn’t fulfilled his duties as a defense attorney, particularly after learning that he hadn’t downloaded discovery material before a client was sentenced.

“That was the biggest gut punch of my career,” Foster said, noting that Munn’s other clients served jail time or were placed on probation. She added: “As a prosecutor, the last thing you want to do is have someone who is incarcerated and hasn’t had adequate representation and has ended up there as a result of that. That’s not justice.”

Foster’s complaint prompted Oregon’s Office of Public Defense Services — now the Oregon Public Defense Commission — to ask the center to conduct its case review. The report, which took three years, says Munn failed to research and develop cases, communicate with clients, maintain appropriate records and conduct appropriate legal research.

Brittney Plesser, co-director of the The FA:IR Law Project, told reporters in a press conference Thursday morning that Munn “explicitly stated that he did not believe an investigation was necessary in many of his cases.”

“Mr. Munn’s clients have stated repeatedly, and evidence within his files suggests, that he regularly ignored his clients or discounted their experiences altogether,” Plesser said. She added, “What Mr. Munn did was egregious.”

Munn denies these accusations. He said he maintained appropriate records. He said he handled his cases appropriately, informed clients of their options and kept in regular contact with them.

“I think any defense attorney will have clients who say they were not able to meet their attorney as much as they’d like,” he said. “That’s just the nature of the business.”

In one instance, the report says, Munn failed to advise a client of the consequences his immigration status would face before he was convicted and deported back to Mexico, “leaving behind his five-year-old child.” Lawyers said they were working with the man to challenge his conviction and return to the United States and be with his child.

“While awaiting the outcome of those proceedings, he disappeared and is presumed by his family to have been murdered,” the report said.

Munn said his client “knowingly” entered into a plea agreement following a probation violation. Asked if he handled this case appropriately, he said: “Absolutely.” He added, “His immigration status was out of my control.”

After reviewing Munn’s cases, the center’s lawyers filed three petitions for post-conviction relief. They filed one motion under Senate Bill 819, which allows people convicted of some felonies to partner with district attorneys to petition for full or partial removal of their criminal records. They filed a motion to set aside a conviction.

“Expungement, litigation, and review are ongoing in seven cases,” a press release said.

Munn accused the report’s authors of being politically motivated. Alice Lundell, the center’s director of communications, did not respond to this accusation or questions about whether the center contacted Munn. Instead, she sent The Bulletin a statement.

“Our priority has been to identify and pursue legal avenues for relief for Mr. Munn’s clients where available and where the clients wished to proceed,” the statement read. “We have drawn on our past experience in conducting a mass case review, and knowledge of Oregon’s criminal legal system to reach the conclusions and recommendations outlined in our report.”

The report called for reforms to Oregon’s flawed public defense system. Among the reforms, it said the state should collect data on attorney performance to identify problematic patterns of practice, improve oversight, training and compensation, and ensure attorneys have time and resources to properly represent clients.