Four times in as many years, courts have called Refik Eler, Jacksonville’s chief assistant public defender and the office’s death-penalty director, ineffective.
He ignored evidence, failed to properly investigate, and didn’t prepare adequately for trial, the courts ruled. Three of those cases involved death penalties. Two of the death sentences and the one life sentence were overturned because of Eler’s ineffectiveness. Now, taxpayers must pay to re-do those three trials.