ELIZABETHTOWN — Lake Placid resident Brandon Boutelle was appointed chief public defender for Essex County Monday.
Boutelle will take the job previously held by Livingston "Livy" Hatch of Willsboro, who died suddenly Jan. 4.
After a 30-minute executive session, the County Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee made the preliminary appointment by unanimous vote Monday morning.
SALARY SET
Boutelle's salary will be $92,000, and the appointment is for a two-year term.
Hatch's salary this year would have been about $120,000.
Boutelle was hired as deputy public defender in January 2005.
The appointment must get final approval from the Board of Supervisors at its February meeting.
Until then, Boutelle will be acting chief public defender.
"I don't know if I can fill Livy's shoes, but I'm going to try," Boutelle said. "I will do the best job I can."
He said lawyers, police, public officials and just the general public have been calling about Hatch.
"The outpouring of support for Livy has been tremendous. He was very well respected."
DEPUTY NEEDED
As the sole counsel in an office that has more than 250 pending cases, Boutelle said, he's working long hours now.
"There's a lot of work to do, but I've been doing it, much to the chagrin of my wife."
The process to find a deputy public defender will start soon, he said, and filling that position should start easing the pressure.
As deputy public defender, Boutelle covered both local courts and County Court.
"My time in this office enabled me to develop very close working relationships with the staffs of County Court, local justice courts, District Attorney's Office, Probation Department and Sheriff's Department.
"The positive relationships that I've built will help maintain continuity that's critical for the ongoing success of the Public Defender's Office and minimize any disruptions in service to our clients."
Board of Supervisors Chair Randy Douglas (D-Jay) said the County Personnel Department and Public Defender's Office did a great job assembling information needed since the death of Hatch.
"It was a job well done by all departments and in a short time period."
NAVY EXPERIENCE
Boutelle is recently returned from Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp as a military defense attorney called back to active duty. He previously served four years on active duty with the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps. As a current member of the Navy Reserve JAG Corps, he holds the rank of lieutenant commander.
Boutelle graduated from Albany Law School in 2000. He received a criminal-justice degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1997.
TRIAL DELAYED
As a result of Hatch's death, the Essex County Court trial of Michael M. Smith, 44, of Lake Placid, which had been scheduled to start Monday, was postponed.
Hatch had been Smith's attorney on a charge of felony criminally negligent homicide brought following a hunting accident. Smith was hunting in Keene on Nov. 15, 2008, when he fired at what he said he thought was a deer, hitting 35-year-old Leo Hickey in the head, police said.
Boutelle, who will now defend Smith, said no new trial date has been set.
E-mail Lohr McKinstry at: lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com
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