Countywide

A group of defense attorneys and San Diego County Superior Court judges ironed out differences Wednesday over a court plan to tighten the monitoring of defense costs in death penalty cases.

Public Defender Melvin Nitz said the proposal that Judge Michael Greer will recommend to the court deals with lawyers’ concerns about possible impediments to preparing defense cases and potential violations of confidentiality.

Greer said the attorneys’ objections to standardized monitoring of defense costs stemmed largely from misunderstandings of the proposal.

The judges, facing more death penalty cases than at any time since capital punishment was restored in California in 1977, hope to control defense costs by giving one judge responsibility for approving all expenses and requiring more detailed explanations of spending.