Commissioners hire special counsel to represent DA Walsh in Supreme Court petition
Philadelphia attorney to be paid $480 per hour, most of which is covered by insurance
The Washington County commissioners agreed to hire special counsel to represent District Attorney Jason Walsh in the petition filed against him with the state Supreme Court, and will pay the Philadelphia-based attorney nearly $500 per hour, although most of it will be covered by the county’s insurance.
The commissioners approved the contract with attorney Shohin Vance at a rate of $480 per hour during an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to consider the special counsel. Vance will respond to the petition filed against Walsh last week trying to restrict his ability to pursue the death penalty against criminal defendants.
The Atlantic Center for Capital Representation in Philadelphia filed the “king’s bench” petition with the high court asking it to review Walsh’s repeated threats to pursue the death penalty in nearly a dozen cases over the past four years. The center, which is representing defendants Jordan Clarke and Joshua George, both of whom are facing the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in separate cases involving the deaths of their infant sons, claims Walsh is wielding the threat of capital punishment as leverage and used it as a political tool to get help him get elected to a full term in 2023.
The emergency nature of Friday’s meeting was due to Tuesday being the deadline to file responses in the case after the center submitted its petition to the Supreme Court on July 22. The motion was unanimously approved by Commission Chairman Nick Sherman and Commissioners Electra Janis and Larry Maggi, the latter of whom attended through teleconferencing.
After the meeting, Sherman said the special counsel will be paid with the help of a “rider” on the county’s insurance plan that the commissioners agreed to two years ago when they approved the policy. He said the county would likely have to pay a deductible, although he did not immediately have that figure.
In a phone interview Friday morning, Walsh said he was prepared to represent himself against the petition, but decided it would be better to have special counsel perform that role.
“I just thought it would be better for an outside firm to respond to it,” Walsh said. “I was prepared to file an answer, and it’s done. But when I thought about it, I thought it would be better for an outside firm because no taxpayer dollars are involved and (it would be better) to have an objective and independent response.”
Walsh, who is a Republican, said Vance has specialized in similar litigation with public officials in the past. According to his profile on his law firm’s website, Vance is a litigation attorney and has “represented prominent elected officials and legislative bodies, including the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Caucus, in cases that have shaped statewide policy.”
Friday’s emergency meeting – which was not publicly advertised due to the tight deadline to hire the special counsel – lasted less than five minutes with only two people from the public in attendance, both of whom made comments in opposition of the decision to hire a special counsel for Walsh.
Cliff Cochran of Washington called the decision to hire a special counsel “morally and sinfully wrong” since he thought the district attorney should either defend himself or be required to pay for his own attorney.
“There’s an issue that came up that he made. He should be paying his own tab, not the citizens of the county,” Cochran said. “I just feel that it’s wrong to use taxpayers’ money to pay for an issue that the DA created.”
Ellie Field of Canton Township brought up how county Coroner Timothy Warco recently filed an affidavit claiming Walsh coerced him into filing a fraudulent death certificate in order to further the case against one of the clients named in the petition. She asked why Warco also isn’t afforded a special counsel, although she did not agree with the county hiring an outside attorney to represent either.
“If you’re going to represent one, we’re paying to represent one, why aren’t we representing the coroner, as well? Even though I believe we should not represent either one of them with our taxpayer money. They should be representing themselves,” Field said. “They should have their own counsel.”
Sherman previously said Walsh asked for the special counsel to help defend against the petition, and the commissioners agreed to consider the request. He said they needed the emergency meeting Friday since responses are due Tuesday, although Vance could ask for a delay.