WA: in Grant County, novel "effective assistance of counsel" concept causing havoc for prosecutor

The latest from Ephrata, by permission of a couple of informed sources:

On Tuesday, a Grant County Deputy Prosecutor complained in open court - on the record - that the new group of public defenders were "interviewing virtually every witness in every case" and that this... conduct was "making it difficult" for police officers to get their work done.

The prosecutor complained... that the new group of public defenders were interviewing every witness, victim, and cop, causing the system to be overburdened. The implication was "why are they wasting everyone's time and money?" The prosecutor truly believed what he was saying.

In response, the judge simply asked, "Wasn't that the point to the ACLU lawsuit?"