I received the letter that Judge Ross sent to the JAC on Oct. 4.  Here is the text:

"At the September 19, 2006 meeting of the 17th Circuit's ISC Meeting, a motion was passed to request the JAC audit the appointment and payment of private court appointed attorneys for this Circuit.  That also includes payments for defendants determined indigent for costs.  This letter will serve as the Committee's formal request for the JAC to audit our records and issue a report.  The audit should cover the period of time October 1, 2004 to June 30, 2006."

Let's hope the JAC can get this audit accomplished and will have the ability to search Howard Forman's records re appointments in order to match the Wheel records (which only reflect whan a judge consulted the registry) with the actual appointments made by the judges in open court and recorded by the clerk of courts.

I will follow-up with JAC and post what I learn.

Bill Gelin