You have to meet them eye-to-eye. It's essential to establishing rapport," said Raag Singhal, a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer who has represented 18 defendants on death row. "It's the only way they're going to trust you enough to let you meet with their family and friends."

In his December petition for habeas corpus, McClain also blasted Casuso for raising only one habeas issue in his appeal when most post-conviction lawyers cite at least 20.

Among other deficiencies in Casuso's work, McClain said, he never moved for an evidentiary hearing, and he never obtained the public records, including police reports, of the case until after his appeal was filed.

McClain and other capital appellate attorneys say it's typical for defense lawyers to start from scratch on a case. They usually pore through the entire investigation, reinterview witnesses, review police reports and read the entire trial transcript.

But Casuso said he did read the trial transcript and reinterviewed some witnesses. He added that he trusted the work done by Jimenez's trial attorneys.

Casuso acknowledged, however, that he was convinced from the start that Jimenez was guilty. "His fingerprint was found in the house and he made a statement to officers," Casuso said. "The question you have to ask is if he got a fair trial. He did."

McClain disagreed, writing in his 53-page appeal that his client may be innocent. McClain noted that a taxi driver reported seeing a blood-spattered man who wasn't Jimenez leaving the building at around the time of the murder.

In his filing, McClain said Casuso either didn't know about or missed the one-year deadline for filing a habeas corpus petition in federal court. That blocks Jimenez from ever filing a federal appeal; the only avenue open to him is state court.

McClain complains that despite the flawed work, Casuso billed the state of Florida $67,900 for a total of 24 pages of written work. Casuso claimed he put in 679 hours of work - about 17 40-hour weeks - on the case.

In contrast, McClain recently billed the state $22,000 for the 100-page brief he submitted on behalf of convicted murderer Brian Jennings, along with a 35-page reply brief and a court appearance for oral arguments.

Judge Rothenberg told the Review that she had no concerns about the quality of Casuso's work. According to state records, she signed off on orders for payment of attorney fees in 2000, 2001 and 2002 authorizing the state comptroller to pay Casuso the $67,900. He was paid in full. But Rothenberg told the Review she never signed the payment orders. "The county attorneys handle that," she said. "We don't do that any more."

Chip Thurber, assistant general counsel in the Florida comptroller's office, said registry lawyers must get a court order from the judge who assigned them the case before the comptroller will pay a bill.

The fact that Casuso already has collected almost $68,000 creates a huge problem for Jimenez and McClain. That's because the state caps spending on appellate representation of individual death row convicts by private lawyers at $69,000