County names Randy Mize to head Public Defender’s Office

County officials on Friday named Randy Mize to be the new Public Defender, picking a 29-year veteran of the office to replace departing Public Defender Henry Coker.

The appointment of the 57-year-old Mize was made by the Public Safety Group. He will begin his new job on March 31.

Mize now serves as the Chief Deputy of the Primary Public Defender, the largest of the several county law offices that defends indigent people charged with crimes.

Coker announced in January he was retiring from the post after 12 years on the job.

Mize joined the Public Defender’s office in 1988. He has been the head of the juvenile delinquency branch of the office, representing youths charged with crimes, and since 2009 has been in the Primary Public Defender role.

When he was the chief of the juvenile branch, Mize was the lead attorney for Charles “Andy” Williams, the 15-year-old teenager who killed two students and wounded 13 others in a shooting at Santana High School in 2001.

The high-profile case ended in June 2002 when Williams pleaded guilty to all charges against him. He was sentenced in August of that year to 50 years to life in prison.

Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Ron Lane singled out Mize’s “long and impressive career protecting and fighting for the rights of the accused” in a news release announcing the appointment.

Mize will oversee the Primary Public Defender office as well as the Alternate Public Defender, Multiple Conflicts Office and the Office of Assigned Counsel. The Primary Public Defender is the largest, with 290 of the 365 employees working in public defense.

Twitter: @gregmoran

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