Dan Morales' Public Defender Termed "First Rate"

Laredo, TX, Morning Times ^ | 07-08-03 | AP

[Theodore R.]

Lawyer for former attorney general Dan Morales first rate

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - The public defender representing former Attorney General Dan Morales in his federal fraud case is viewed as a top-notch lawyer by some colleagues and clients.

William Ibbotson, 48, a former military lawyer, is the principal buffer between Morales, who insists he is innocent, and prosecutors, who want to convict the politician on multiple charges including bank and tax fraud.

Nearly broke and battling a federal prosecution, New Braunfels businessman Tom Chaffe was in a similar jam. Then, a judge appointed Ibbotson, an assistant federal public defender, to represent Chaffe. After a two-week trial in 1998, Ibbotson obtained a 1-in-100 result - an acquittal.

"He was awesome," Chaffe was quoted as saying in Sunday's San Antonio Express-News.

Five years later, Ibbotson represents Morales, who was the state's attorney general from 1991 to 1998.

Morales' request for appointed counsel reflects the high cost of a stout defense, particularly in white-collar cases.

Morales, who is being held without bond in the Caldwell County Jail in Lockhart, has said his previous lawyers, Gerald Goldstein and Paul Coggins, wanted $1 million up front to defend him at trial. They represented Morales during the investigation that led to his March indictment.

Besides challenging Morales financially, the complex case, packaged in 197 boxes of documents that contain potential evidence, presents a high-profile test for government lawyers who usually labor in anonymity.

"People think in terms of public defenders, 'These guys are just going to roll over,"' said Joseph A. Turner, a former federal prosecutor. "They try a lot of cases, and they win some. They're by no means second-rate lawyers."

Lucien Campbell, a San Antonio-based federal public defender, has overseen federal defenses from Austin to El Paso since 1974. Over the decades, observers say, Campbell has assembled solid legal talent.

Ibbotson came aboard in 1992 as a founding member of the federal public defender's three-attorney office in Austin. Former colleague Adrienne Urrutia describes the ex-Army lawyer as "detail-oriented, meticulous and not just there for a paycheck."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Loving, who prosecuted Chaffe, said Ibbotson is "not laid back. He's aggressive and energetic."

Aided by others in the public defenders office, Ibbotson, who declined to comment, is expected to devote his tenacious energy full time to the Morales case.

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin seemed to balk when Morales first asked for an appointed lawyer in April.

Not everybody can qualify for a defense subsidized by taxpayers, although the criterion is vague. The law only says federal courts must provide lawyers for defendants "financially unable to obtain adequate representation."

The government sets no income benchmarks or limits on assets for people applying for appointed lawyers. Eligibility doubts are decided in the defendant's favor.

Morales acknowledged he has assets worth $975,000, but offsetting that, he described debts totaling $925,000 including two mortgages and a six-figure credit card tab.

Ibbotson's former client Chaffe was surprised to learn that one of the state's most prominent lawyers couldn't afford his own attorney.

"If he can't, he can't," Chaffe said.

"But if he got Bill Ibbotson, he got the best."

07/08/03

[Theodore R.]

Morales botton-line assets are $50,000. I thought that the law required that he surrender at least $30,000 of those assets to qualify for a public defender. The law generally requires that one have virtually nothing to get the "free" lawyers. Who could afford some of these $1 million even if they had otherwise impressive assets?

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