Wayne County public defender L.R. Turner slows his pace

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) - L.R. "Randy" Turner left the Wayne County Courthouse on Sept. 30 to end his long and distinguished career as a public defender.

He journeyed down South Fourth Street to the brick home that now will receive much more of his attention.

In addition to the gold ring, kayak paddle and other retirement gifts that Turner took with him, he also carried respect, admiration and appreciation from those he served with and from those he served.

"A little bit of the heart of the courthouse left," said Kaarin Lueck, the magistrate for Superior Court 3 and a longtime partner of Turner's in the public defender's office. "He's worked so hard here for so long and served the county so well. He served with distinction."

Turner began as one of just two part-time public defenders during the early 1980s and finished as one of six full-time public defense attorneys. The frenzied pace of ever-growing caseloads told the 67-year-old Turner to slow down.

"I'm tired, so I decided I would retire," he said. "It was time."

Before Turner left, his nearly 40-year Wayne County law career was celebrated with three cakes and his gifts, including a framed picture of the courthouse with signatures from friends.

"Randy's just beloved here," said Lueck, who was assigned to Superior 3 with Turner for 11ˆ½ of his 24 years in that court. "I thought the ring would be a perfect keepsake for his time here."

Turner proudly wore the gold ring - the type he'd mentioned to Lueck over the years - this past week as he talked about his career and his future plans. When the ring fit, Lueck said she was nearly in tears.

"I wasn't expecting a ring," Turner said. "They surprised me."

The attention, said public defender Steve Rabe, was deserved and overdue.

"Randy's never gotten the credit he deserves," Rabe said. "He was a brilliant attorney. He was always willing to let you pick his mind. You could discuss a case or discuss strategies."

Although Turner almost walked to the courthouse by mistake on his first day of retirement, the father of two and grandfather of four - with one on the way - is ready to get his hands dirty around the house and see more of his family. His son, Adam Turner lives in Indianapolis with two daughters and a third child on the way, and daughter Sara Tomlinson lives in Findlay, Ohio, with a daughter and a son.

"I can relieve the parents; they appreciate that," Turner said with a chuckle. "Right now, I'll just take it easy for a while and work on my old house."

He mentioned scraping old paint and repainting, as well as removing wallpaper, hands-on activities a farm boy from Hagerstown can appreciate.

"Ready to do a little manual labor, and that's very good," he said. "I kind of miss that, actually."

Eventually, however, there will be more to retirement when Turner decides to involve himself in activities.

"I think there are some things I can do to help the community a little bit, maybe a mentor program," he said. "I've thought about helping build homes. I grew up building homes with my dad. I enjoy that work, working with my hands."

Turner left the family's 80-acre gentleman's farm to attend Ball State University where, nudged by a difficult time in a physics class, he decided to attend law school. He graduated from Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis in 1977.

"I just was always interested in history and political science. I always read a lot of history," Turner said. "And, actually, I liked biology, too. I figured law or med school, and I think I probably did better in my law courses. I had real trouble with physics at Ball State."

When he returned to Richmond in 1977 after passing the bar exam, Turner practiced at a firm with David Dennis, Robert Reinke and Paul Vertesch.

"They really taught me a lot," Turner said. "It was like, 'OK, you've been to law school, now you might try to learn something.'"

After three years working in that general practice, Turner began his own and entered public defending. He and Terry O'Maley worked part-time and rotated through all the courts. Turner said that rotation "was really nice because we got to interact with all the different judges."

Eventually, he became a full-time public defender, drawing the Superior 3 assignment for the past 24 years. In Superior 3, he handled misdemeanors and some lower-level felonies, although he would handle or help with higher-level felonies when needed.

"I'm fortunate to do that, and I've had some success doing that over the years, defending people," said Turner, who adapted to changing rules, technology and codes through his career. "All charges that the state brings are a starting point, and there are many people who are not guilty of what they're charged with or they need counsel and to work things out.

"I found dealing with people and juries interesting. I always had pretty good faith in juries when we go to that."

A favorite result involved a not-guilty verdict about 25 years ago in Circuit Court, a decision that brought a tear to Turner's eye.

"The informant had basically begged her to get delivery of a couple of pills until she gave in, and then the jury found her not guilty," he said. "No record and just basically hounded into giving a girl a pill, and when you listen to the tapes, it just came across as browbeating this girl."

In June 2011, Turner reached the pinnacle for a Hoosier public defender. He was awarded the Indiana Public Defender Council's Gideon Award, an annual honor fewer than 25 Indiana public defenders have received. It is named after the Gideon v. Wainwright case that established the right of indigent defendants to receive representation at public expense, and it honors an individual who distinguished himself and epitomized the zealous defense of poor persons.

Judges, prosecutors and the public defender's staff nominated him for the award.

"Superior 3 by its nature has people who come back over and over again," said Lueck, who won the council's Gault Award for excellence in juvenile defense in 2013. "For some of those people, Randy almost became like a father figure."

She said that trait shows up with those struggling with substance problems and with younger offenders. Turner helped steer them to the treatment and help they needed and helped divert them from the criminal path.

"Randy is the calmest person," Lueck said. "He never raises his voice and never shows anything but courtesy to anyone."

Defenders face challenges with addicted offenders, those afflicted with mental health issues and others struggling with illiteracy. Turner, who thinks there are more mental health issues than ever, said the art of relating to people is extremely important for defenders.

"You see people at their worst a lot of times, and therefore, sometimes it's tense," he said. "I think part of the job is just learning how to deal with people on a personal level. I always tried to give them a fair shake. They may not realize that, but I tried to give them a fair shake on representation and deal with them as a person."

From there, the defender tries to guide the client to the best possible outcome, which often involves telling the client things he or she doesn't want to hear.

"You try to give them your best advice, your analysis," Turner said. "You have to analyze it and be truthful with them about what the evidence is against them. And that's really 90 percent of the cases is evaluating the evidence and dealing with the client, listening to the client.

"Clients sometimes don't realize you don't have a magic wand that you can make evidence disappear, and they sometimes get upset."

Incarcerated clients often receive "advice" from other inmates, who relate misconceptions to them about the legal process. Turner said they're the same misconceptions he's seen for 40 years, such as each case will get three continuances and each defendant will receive three plea bargain offers. Public defenders also battle the perception that their service isn't valuable because it's free to clients.

"Sometimes they can be hostile to you, and you have to understand that," he said. "That's part of the art of dealing with people, and that's difficult. You're trying to do the best thing you can for them, and sometimes they don't realize that."

That contributes extra stress for the busy attorneys.

"The defense has the direct stress of dealing with the client, which can be pretty intense when you're dealing with somebody eye to eye, and that takes a toll," Turner said. "You learn to cope. Humor is helpful."

Lueck said the even-keeled Turner is light-hearted and would laugh and goof off with his co-workers. He would sit and tell stories in an office decorated with "goofy toys."

"I just thought that was endearing," she said. "He's so funny and just a pleasure to be around."

That included Turner lifting colleagues' moods.

"Randy was great to work with," Rabe said. "He's the type of guy who if someone was having a bad day he'd make it a point to stop in your office and check on you. He was more than a colleague, he was a friend."

Turner said while he won't miss the workplace pace, he will miss the people.

"Being around a lot of the people on the staff and the fun times we've had together, people that I've worked with, the judges, other attorneys, bailiffs and court personnel," he said. "You get to know their families and I've enjoyed that."

He also enjoys seeing former clients who have remained out of trouble.

"I've always enjoyed when someone would come up to me on the streets to say hi and say, 'Hey, you remember me?'," said Turner, who admits he's good with faces and facts but not names. "I've always enjoyed that because a lot more of them come up to me and are appreciative.

"The biggest thing, when you're practicing in the courts you represent so many people and they're in bad positions. They're just mostly everyday people. They're not wicked or evil. There's something that they've done. Hopefully, they get through it and it's good to see a lot of them later."

Just as he has been there for his clients, Turner has received support from others as he chose to remain three decades in a challenging and sometimes thankless position.

"I had a lot of help from a lot of people myself," Turner said. "I wouldn't have made it through without a lot of help."

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Source: (Richmond) Palladium-Item, http://pinews.co/2dJYpvM

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Information from: Palladium-Item, http://www.pal-item.com