The first case that Smith ever took to trial during her time as a public defender turned out to be a maelstrom of media coverage, protests and social media outrage. Much of the public has only heard one side of this highly publicized story, which involved accusations of animal cruelty against a young black man from

A lawyer with almost no experience in criminal law is assigned to a criminal case with a sentence of 20 years to life. This happened because, in Louisiana, like in a few states, public defenders’ offices are so short-staffed that courts are ordering private attorneys to take pro bono clients. Reporter David Zax tells the

To see first-hand how these cuts affect public defenders and their work, The Times spent a morning with attorney Sarah Smith, who joined Caddo’s public defender office in January 2014. This interview has been condensed and edited. Read the article.