People v. Arquette
| Decision Date | 19 October 1993 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 152983 |
| Citation | 507 N.W.2d 824,202 Mich.App. 227 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Leroy E. ARQUETTE, Jr., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US |
Vandeveer Garzia, P.C. by John J. Lynch, Birmingham, and Hal O. Carroll, Detroit, for Judge Jessica R. Cooper.
Richard J. Amberg, Jr., Waterford, for Leroy Arquette, Jr.
Before: DOCTOROFF, C.J., and MICHAEL J. KELLY and GRIBBS, JJ.
Defendant, Leroy E. Arquette, Jr., appeals by leave granted from an order of the trial court denying designation of retained counsel as attorney of record. We reverse.
Defendant was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to deliver more than 650 grams of cocaine and was sentenced to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. The trial court found defendant to be indigent and appointed an attorney to represent him at trial.
Following sentencing, defendant filed a declaration of indigence and requested appointment of counsel to appeal his conviction. Defendant was again found to be indigent and counsel was appointed.
Before defendant's appointed attorney ordered preparation of the trial transcript, defendant's parents retained Richard J. Amberg, Jr., to represent defendant on appeal. Amberg filed a motion for a new trial on defendant's behalf, and asked the court administrator to provide him with the transcript of defendant's trial at public expense. The court administrator refused to provide the transcript at public expense because defendant had a retained attorney.
Amberg then filed a motion for production of the transcript at public expense, arguing that defendant's parents had sufficient funds to retain an attorney but could not afford to pay approximately $3,000 for the transcript. The motion was denied, and Amberg was permitted to withdraw. Counsel was again appointed and the transcript was prepared at public expense.
After the transcript was prepared, Amberg obtained a copy. The copy cost considerably less than the initial transcript. Defendant's appointed counsel moved to withdraw as appellate counsel because of a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship. The next day, Amberg submitted his appearance as retained counsel. The trial court entered an order allowing appointed counsel to withdraw, but did not enter an order allowing another attorney.
Amberg filed a motion for designation as defendant's attorney of record. Following a hearing, the circuit court found that Amberg had fraudulently withdrawn from the case with the intention of having the transcript prepared at public expense and then resubmitting his appearance. The court denied the motion and adjourned the pending motion for a new trial.
We note initially that this Court will not "lay down specific and intricate rules defining standards of indigency in each case." Indigence must be determined case by case. People v. Chism, 17 Mich.App. 196, 199, 169 N.W.2d 192 (1969); People v. Morris, 30 Mich.App. 169, 172, 186 N.W.2d 10 (1971). However, indigence is to be determined by consideration of the defendant's financial ability, not that of his friends and relatives. MCR 6.005(B). It is, of course, axiomatic that an indigent defendant is entitled to a transcript at public expense.
In this case, defendant was determined by the lower court to be indigent. We find it significant that defendant was declared indigent before attorney Amberg was retained. Defendant was denied a transcript, not because of a change in his financial condition, but because a third party offered to pay for his attorney.
There are clearly good reasons behind the circuit court's general policy denying transcripts at public expense to criminal defendants who can afford to retain attorneys. However, we find the trial court's concern, that if defendant were provided a transcript at public expense then everyone with a retained attorney would want free transcripts, to be meritless. It is undisputed that defendant was indigent throughout these proceedings, and indigent criminal defendants are entitled to transcripts at public expense. It would be a different case if defendant had retained an attorney and then declared indigence. The trial court's narrow interpretation of the court's policy leads to the ironic result of forcing the taxpayers to provide the entire cost of an indigent's defense even if the indigent's friends or family are willing to pay part of the cost. Public policy would be better served by a case by case determination rather than an inflexible rule in this matter. Although we do not believe the circuit court's policy is itself invalid, we find...
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People v. Fett
...to counsel guaranteed by both the Sixth Amendment and Michigan's Constitution. Const. 1963, art. 1, §§ 13, 20; People v. Arquette, 202 Mich.App. 227, 231, 507 N.W.2d 824 (1993); Wilson v. Mintzes, 761 F.2d 275, 278-280 (C.A.6, 1985). Further, we hold that the arbitrary and unreasonable deni......
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...there is no evidence that defendant's financial circumstances changed during the pendency of the case. See People v. Arquette , 202 Mich. App. 227, 230, 507 N.W.2d 824 (1993). We are confident that the mere retention of counsel by an indigent defendant does not deprive that defendant of the......
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...in its courtroom, it is not entitled to do so at the expense of a defendant's constitutional rights." People v. Arquette, 202 Mich.App. 227, 232, 507 N.W.2d 824 (1993). Thus, we next address defendant's contention that trial counsel should have objected to the notice of a support person on ......
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