There has been a lot of misinformation surrounding the Board of Supervisors’ hiring of David Marcus as the Public Defender that needs clarification.
After receiving numerous applications the Board decided on five candidates to interview. An additional interview panel was also formed and interviewed all five candidates. The Board also met with retired Public defender Kevin Robinson to discuss the in-house candidates. Three applicants were interviewed a second time by the Board. The Board exercised its discretion and hired Mr. Marcus, who was not the candidate recommended by the interview panel.
Mr. Marcus has 14 years of experience as a Public Defender in San Bernardino County and six years as the Public Defender for Lassen County, totaling more than 20 years of criminal defense work. For the past five years he has been practicing law for the firm of Cella, Lange and Cella in Walnut Creek, Calif. on a contract basis while living in Florida. Mr. Marcus has significant criminal law experience and meets all statutory requirements for the position. We look forward to working with him as our Public Defender.
The interesting tid-bit here is that Mr. Marcus was not the candidate recommended by the hiring panel. Previous coverage has been dominated by concerns over the make-up of the panel, which included law enforcement and the DA but no defense attorneys. Now it would appear that the panel was not impressed by Mr. Marcus. Why did the BOS ignore the panel and hire this fellow?
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