This November Please Remember

The long campaign is drawing to a close. A little over a year ago, I announced that I was running to be elected Public Defender for the 12th Judicial Circuit. I have traveled from Ellenton to Englewood and from Arcadia to Anna Maria Island. In fact, I was in Arcadia this morning greeting early voters in DeSoto County. My main message has been to describe the historic role of the Public Defender's Office and to request support solely based upon my qualifications for the job. Last week, over 300 people celebrated the legacy of Elliott Metcalfe, our present Public Defender, who has served this area for thirty-two years. Elliott provided leadership in the courtroom and the community. I am the candidate best positioned to continue this legacy.

My opponent, Larry Eger, is a friend of mine, but his message is entirely different. Larry sees the job only as that of an office manager. Although he stresses his administrative experience, during his tenure as assistant public defender, he has made no budgetary or employment decisions; these have all been the sole responsibility of Mr. Metcalfe. Larry, the nominee of the Republican party, successfully enlisted the endorsements of other elected Republicans, including the State Attorney and former sheriff Charlie Wells. He is now using these endorsements to pound a "law and order" message in television ads that ignore the mission of the office. Perhaps he believes that these ads will fool enough voters to propel him to victory, and maybe he is right. But do we really want to elect a Public Defender who is willing to mislead the electorate about the duties and responsibilities of the office he seeks to hold? Our responsibility is to provide high quality, cost effective legal representation to indigent citizens who are in jail or facing jail. What message is Larry sending to our clients?

In addition to the law and order message, Larry is running an e-mail ad that says "Experience Matters." I couldn't agree more, which is why I am asking for your vote. While Larry and I worked together for over twenty years, I was the only one who took the extra steps to become qualified to handle the death penalty cases in this area, and I performed this job with professionalism for over a decade. I am the one who took the extra steps to become board certified as a criminal trial attorney, which means that I can hold myself out as an expert in the field. And I have conducted legal training seminars across the State of Florida. For ten years I helped organize and teach the death penalty seminar that attorneys had to take to become qualified to handle those cases. But I also trained the young attorneys, fresh out of law school, and taught them how to investigate cases, question witnesses and introduce evidence.

As your Public Defender, I will work hard every day to build a world class office with an emphasis on professionalism. So this November, please remember, vote Adam Tebrugge, for Public Defender.

I Am Asking for Your Vote

Yesterday, October 20th, I went to all of the early voting locations in Sarasota County. At several places I witnessed long lines of voters waiting to cast their ballots. After you vote for President and Congress, the next vote you will be faced with in DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties, is for the Office of Public Defender. In Florida, the Public Defender is a constitutional office responsible for providing legal representation to indigent citizens. There are four offices in this circuit; small offices in Arcadia and Venice, and large offices in Bradenton and Sarasota. The attorneys of the Public Defender's Office defend thousands of cases each year.

After serving as an Assistant Public Defender for 23 years, I am now asking for your vote to become your elected Public Defender. In addition to running the office, hiring the staff, and managing the budget, I believe that the elected Public Defender must provide leadership in our local criminal justice system and in the communities that make up the circuit. I have developed relationships with every elected county commissioner throughout the three county area. These relationships mean that I will bring credibility to issues like jail overcrowding, early case resolution, and continued development of alternative sentencing programs like Drug Court and Mental Health Court.

I have also worked extensively with the Manatee and Sarasota branches of the NAACP and I am acutely aware of the problems of our poor areas in each county. Presently I am serving on the Board of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness and we are working on discharge planning from the jails to reduce recidivism. I have conducted my campaign by visiting neighborhood and civic associations throughout the region in order to hear citizen feedback on criminal justice issues. With my extensive experience in the courtroom and the community, I believe that I am uniquely positioned to make a positive contribution to our justice system.

I would respectfully request your vote when you cast your ballot for Public Defender.

Teaching and Training and Professionalism

Courtroom work is exhilarating and intense and requires hours of preparation. There is a unique skill set behind properly questioning witnesses, arguing points of law to the court, or persuading a jury to carefully examine the prosecution’s case. An experienced trial attorney can then mentor a younger attorney and teach them the legal ropes, but must also emphasize the concept of professionalism. In the practice of law we must always strive to emphasize ethical principles while vigorously defending our clients. Mentoring is necessary to teach a young attorney how to achieve this balance. My mentor was Jim Slater, an outstanding attorney and a true gentleman. Nobody worked harder than Jim to prepare a case, and no one was more widely respected for his behavior and his skill inside the courtroom.

Jim got me involved in the training of other attorneys. As a member (and later chair) of the Florida Public Defender’s death penalty steering committee, Jim was responsible for training attorneys to properly handle capital cases. In the early 1990’s, Jim asked me to work with him on the annual conference. I was responsible for kicking of the three-day seminar by presenting a comprehensive overview of Florida law and best practices. I found I had a natural affinity for teaching and I began to take any opportunity that was presented. Over the years, I have presented lectures or taught classes to lawyers, high school and college students, church and civic groups, and television audiences.

One of my favorite experiences was teaching Public Defender College. Law Schools train attorneys how to think about law, not how to conduct a jury trial. Public Defender Offices frequently hire young attorneys fresh out of law school. These attorneys must be trained in courtroom procedures as well as proper courtroom behavior. Popular television programs frequently glamorize flamboyant or outrageous tactics, but these are rarely successful in Florida courtrooms. In my experience, a jury can only be persuaded if they trust the source of the information. I train lawyers to be prepared, polite and to the point. A lawyer who develops a reputation for these skills will also be the most successful courtroom advocate for his or her clients.

Be sure to watch the SNN debate between Larry Eger and myself that will be broadcast this Wednesday, October 15th, at 7:00 p.m. on Comcast channel 6 in Sarasota.

I make my case in the Bradenton Herald

The Bradenton Herald is allowing candidates to publish a 500 word piece on why they should be elected. Here is what I submitted on behalf of my campaign to be elected your Public Defender.

In a Panama City courtroom in 1961, Clarence Gideon asked the judge to appoint him an attorney because he was too poor to hire one. The judge denied his request, Gideon had to represent himself, and he was found guilty and sentenced to prison. From his cell he sent a handwritten letter to the United States Supreme Court that changed the course of history. In 1963, that court unanimously ruled that poor defendants must be provided attorneys in criminal cases.

I discovered Gideon's story while attending New College, and decided I wanted to work at the Public Defender's Office. I excelled at the Florida State University College of Law and could have taken almost any private position in the State of Florida. But for the last 23 years, I have dedicated my career to providing high quality, cost effective representation to our poorest citizens.

This November, you will elect the next Public Defender of the 12th Judicial Circuit (Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties). When you cast your vote in this election, please remember:

I am the only candidate who is qualified to prepare, litigate and supervise death penalty cases. These are the most complex and expensive cases in the system. Without a qualified attorney, a case might be overturned on appeal at great cost, or worse yet, result in wrongful conviction or execution.
I am the only candidate who is a board certified criminal trial attorney. This means I have tried enough cases, received recommendations from judges and other attorneys, and passed a difficult examination, qualifying me as a specialist in criminal law.
I am the only candidate with extensive experience training attorneys throughout the State of Florida. I have taught Public Defender College for lawyers fresh out of law school, and have conducted death penalty training for today's most experienced attorneys.
I am the only candidate who received the NAACP Freedom Award for Public Service, and the Jim Slater award for professionalism in the practice of criminal law.

My campaign message is "making justice work." I will do this by accomplishing specific goals during my term in office:

I will improve the quality of legal representation through enhanced training of our attorneys;
I will focus our staff on jail issues and seek early resolution of undisputed cases;
I will work with our Judges and the Clerk of the Courts to improve the administration of justice and ensure representation of only the truly indigent;
I will closely monitor costs to make better use of available funds, and be a voice for common sense on local criminal justice issues.
I believe that our Public Defender must provide leadership in the courtrooms and in the community. I have devoted my entire professional life to the Public Defender's Office and have worked hard to establish a solid record of preparation and professionalism. Now I need your help. "This November, Please Remember, Vote Adam Tebrugge, for Public Defender." For more information, please visit my website at www.Adam4pd.info.

Public Defender Debates

I debated my opponent Larry Eger three times within twenty-fours last week. On Tuesday, September 30, we arrived at the Bradenton Kiwanis expecting to make brief after-lunch remarks. I think we were both surprised to see lights, television cameras, timekeepers and formal questions. I really enjoyed this opportunity and Manatee Educational Television will be rebroadcasting this debate frequently between now and election day. METV can be found on Bright House channel 614 (Manatee County), Verizon channel 31 (Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties), or you can watch the debate on the web at www.metvweb.com where you can also find a schedule. For instance, the debate will be shown this Sunday, October 12 at 9:00 a.m.

The next morning Larry and I met up at the League of Women Voter's where we answered questions in front of about fifty people. As you can see from the photo above, Larry and I remain friendly and the debate was cordial and included a wide ranging discussion of our qualifications and vision for the Public Defender's Office. We then raced over to the SNN studio for our televised debate that will be shown on October 15 at 7:00 p.m on Comcast channel 6. Unfortunately we do not have many joint candidate appearances scheduled between now and election day so if you are interested you will have to try and catch one of the television broadcasts.

During the debates I am stressing my experience handling death penalty cases. These cases are the most complex and expensive and important in our criminal justice system. The Florida Supreme Court has established a list of qualifications that an attorney must meet before they are allowed to handle a death penalty case. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.112 says: "Counsel in death penalty cases should be required to perform at the level of an attorney reasonably skilled in the specialized practice of capital representation, zealously committed to the capital case, who has had adequate time and resources for preparation." The rule then sets out a variety of standards that an attorney must meet before being allowed to handle a death penalty case. I am the only candidate running for Public Defender who meets these qualifications.