Overland Park attorney volunteers to defend woman in Clinton police shooting case

An Overland Park attorney has volunteered to represent a Clinton woman facing a murder charge who had been left without a lawyer because of problems in Missouri’s public defender system.

Clifford Cohen, a former Kansas City public defender now practicing education law, said Tuesday that he asked to be appointed to defend Tammy Widger, 37, who is charged with felony murder in the March 6 shooting death of Clinton police officer Ryan Morton.

Widger has been in the Henry County jail since the night of the shooting. Unable to afford an attorney, she applied for a public defender but was told one would not be available because the local public defender’s office was overloaded with cases.

Widger’s case highlighted a long-standing problem with Missouri’s public defender system, which ranks 49th in the country for funding and has entered a statewide crisis.

Public defenders in Henry County and across the state have gone to the courts saying they can’t keep taking more cases without risking their law licenses.

Cohen, who was a public defender in Kansas City in the 1970s, said he volunteered after reading a story about Widger’s situation in The Star on Saturday. A judge appointed him to the case on Monday.

“I have an opportunity to help the woman, and felt it was unfair that she’s become a pawn in the debate over funding,” Cohen said.

Cohen said he knew firsthand the Missouri public defenders’ struggle to get adequate funding. He had lobbied the Legislature on behalf of the public defender system in 1978, securing a rare pay raise.

“The public defender system has sort of been the stepchild of the Missouri Legislature,” he said. “It’s not really something to be proud of that Missouri’s view of criminal justice is behind.

“It’s kind of a sorry, underfunded system.”

Not having a lawyer has affected Widger's ability to exercise her rights, Cohen said. That includes her right to seek a reduction in her $100,000 bond, which has kept her in jail for three weeks, and her right to a defense in a felony murder case that Cohen said could be complex.

Widger is not accused of shooting Morton, who was one of several police officers mistakenly sent to Widger’s home by a 911 mix-up.

Police think her house guest, James Waters, perhaps fearing arrest, killed Morton and wounded two officers before either killing himself or dying by police bullets.

But prosecutors are holding Widger responsible because, they say, her alleged participation in selling drugs led to Morton’s death.

A felony murder charge allows prosecutors to charge someone with murder even if they did not pull the trigger, when the defendant participated in a felony that led to the killing.

Widger is also facing felony drug and nuisance charges.

In a jail interview earlier this month, Widger said she felt “helpless” and could think only of getting a lawyer.

Cohen said he is scheduled to meet with Widger at the Henry County jail Wednesday.

Widger is scheduled to appear in court April 6.

This story was originally published March 27, 2018 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Overland Park attorney volunteers to defend woman in Clinton police shooting case."