It would all depend upon how she initially got involved.
If she was called by the family or Woosie himself, and then was appointed after already being involved, then that's fine.
If she somehow involved herself (solicitation), and then was appointed to that specific case upon request, then there's a problem there.
Even if she didn't directly solicit the defendant, but rather followed the case via news and decided to travel to request an appointment from the judge, then it's still a problem. I don't think she did that here, considering that she brought the defendant in, but my concern was that this might set a precedent for attorneys doing that.
Basically, if you're telling me that Susan James can't randomly travel to Jasper and request appointment for a specific high profile case, then my fears are alleviated. But, if she can travel to Jasper, request appointment for a specific case, and the judge appoints her simply because there are no competent attorneys in Jasper, then I think there's an ethical issue there.
I can't speak for every judge, but I don't know any that allow an attorney to just come in, without prior involvement in the case like in this one, and say "Judge, I'd just really like you to appoint me on that fabulously famous murder case".
Here in my county, there's one, maybe 2 that they use that come out of Tuscaloosa.
In Birmingham, there's a handful of good criminal defense attorneys that, when the case must be handled right, the judge appoint from this "elite" group. They don't have to go ask, they get their share. Same in Montgomery I'd imagine.
In another county I used to work in, when it's a "got to have a good attorney that won't fuck it up" case, there's one guy out of Montgomery that gets them all.
I've seen literally thousands of appointments, and the only time I've ever seen an attorney request to be appointed is when he could show the judge that he'd been paid a little money up front, that his client was indigent, and that he'd billed against what he'd been paid, and that the case was going to take much more time, and that it would be best to keep him on the case so the next appointed attorney didn't have to start from scratch. (And I'm not talking a $50K retainer that got eaten up by your hourly rate...you take that kind of money, you're on the case...I'm talking like took $500 from an Auntee, and now there's no more, and your client doesn't work.) There was, at one time, an attorney that was abusing this. He'd go solicite people in jail, tell them to get momma to bring him $500 and he'd get them out, then he'd try the "judge I've been on the case and my client can't pay any more" routine. When judges caught on to him, which didn't take long, it nearly cost him ever getting any more appointments ever again.
Also, appointed cases are capped. I don't know for sure what the cap is, and it depends on the level of charge. Class A Felony is $4000, Class B is $3000, Class C is $2000. There is no cap on Capital Murder, but I did a couple when I was in private practice, and keeping up with all expenses, and working them diligently was still only able to bill @$30K, and that after 2 years time. The hourly rate the state pays is probably less than a third what James, and other attorneys of her ilk charge per hour. It's only worth it time wise in a case that is high profile, and gets you media exposure. Still, no judge I know is going to allow that. James' prior involvement here was the reason. Whether she solicited that involvement only she and Woosie know. My professional knowledge of her leads me to suspect she didn't.
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