Vol. 30, No. 3, #4. From Whence the Wyoming Public Defender's Office Came.

• Author: Author: Ryan R. Roden

Wyoming Bar Journal

2007.

Vol. 30, No. 3, #4.

From Whence the Wyoming Public Defender's Office Came

Issue: June, 2007 Author: Ryan R. RodenFrom Whence the Wyoming Public Defender's Office Came"From the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and laws have laid great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law. This noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him." - Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

The public defender concept reflects society's concern that all individuals, including indigents, receive proper counsel to protect their rights under the law. The concept also recognizes that any accused person who is too poor to hire a lawyer cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him. Former L.A. County Public Defender Ellery E. Cuff once stated: "Justice to each individual, regardless of financial conditions, race, creed or color, is the concern of all the public, and it is the duty of the State, rather than private individuals or agencies to safeguard the rights of an accused person." Public defender systems fulfill these concepts by providing competent, effective representation to indigent defendants in criminal cases.

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1791, states: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence." The right to counsel in federal proceedings was well-established early in the country's history by statute, and was reaffirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1938 in Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 (1938). However, roots of the modern right to counsel for the defendant who cannot afford to pay a private lawyer in state courts can be found more than a century and one-half ago in the case of Webb v. Baird, 6 Ind. 13 (Ind. 1853). In Webb v. Baird, the Indiana Supreme Court recognized a right to an attorney at public expense for an indigent person accused of a crime, grounded in "the principles of a civilized society," not in constitutional or statutory law.

In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the landmark case of Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), wherein the Court unanimously...