Portland Mother Falsely Accused Amid’ Oregon’s Growing Public Defender Crisis

Corshelle Jenkins believed a trip to court would clear up a mistake. Instead, she found herself trapped in a legal system with no lawyer to defend her and no clear way out.

The 36-year-old Portland mother of six learned in May 2025 that she had been charged with theft in Multnomah County and that a warrant had been issued for her arrest after she failed to appear in court. Jenkins said she had never been arrested before and had no idea why she was being accused of stealing pink boots from a Nordstrom outlet two years earlier.

“I was worried about getting pulled over and arrested with my kids in the car.”

When she arrived for her arraignment, Jenkins expected to explain that police had identified the wrong person. Instead, a judge told her there were no public defenders available to take her case. She was placed on a waiting list and ordered to return to court again and again until an attorney became available.

“I wanted to prove this wasn’t me. I wanted to get this moving,” Jenkins said.

Her experience reflects a broader breakdown in Oregon’s public defence system, where thousands of defendants have spent months waiting for constitutionally required legal representation. At one point in 2025, about 3900 defendants state-wide were waiting for lawyers, while another 1700 had gone unrepresented after missing hearings.

The crisis grew so severe that the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in February that charges must be dismissed for defendants who waited more than 90 days for a lawyer in felony cases and 60 days in misdemeanour cases. Because of it, more than 1400 pending cases were affected.

Still, many defendants remain trapped in legal limbo because prosecutors can later refile dismissed charges.

Roughly 1180 defendants across Oregon are still waiting for attorneys, according to state figures.

Legal experts say the shortage has been building for years. Public defenders often earn less than prosecutors and private attorneys while carrying crushing caseloads. Oregon courts also struggled with the backlog after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down proceedings. At the same time, rising homelessness, addiction and mental health crisis added pressure to the system.

By 2022, the American Bar Association estimate Oregon needed 1300 more full-time public defenders.

“For years, we’ve been underwater with excessive caseloads, burning attorneys out,” said Grant Hartley, director of Metropolitan Public Defender in Multnomah County.

For Jenkins, the delay carried real consequences. She said the pending theft charge blocked her from getting a second job and left her worried. She could lose her current position at a senior living facility, where she administers medications. She also feared being jailed while caring for her children.

The case stretched on while Jenkins was pregnant with her youngest daughter. After she missed one court hearing in September, another warrant was issued for her arrest.

Five months after first appearing in court, Jenkins finally received a public defender. Her attorney showed her surveillance video from the alleged theft. Jenkins immediately recognised the suspect as a loose acquaintance who had given the police Jenkins' name when she was detained.

According to the reports, the police wrote that a DMV photo matched the subject in custody, Jenkins said the two women looked nothing alike except for their race.

“It really makes you angry. This wasn’t me. I didn’t do it,” Jenkins said. “But all I could do was just wait for an attorney.”