Opinion ID: 1993425
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: A. History of the Defense of Indigents in New Jersey

Text: The obligation to defend indigents accused of indictable crimes has existed in New Jersey since 1795. Prior to adoption of the Public Defender Act, New Jersey furnished counsel to indigent defendants by way of an assigned-counsel system. Under that system, a judge would assign attorneys in alphabetical rotation from a master list maintained in the county in which venue was to be laid in the indigent defendant's case. See State v. Rush, 46 N.J. 399, 407 n. 1, 217 A. 2d 441 (1966). In certain cases, such as murder, the judge could make a special designation of counsel. Ibid. Only in murder cases would the assigned attorney receive compensation. See N.J.S.A. 2A:163-1. In Rush, supra, 46 N.J. at 412, 217 A. 2d 441, the Court decided that the time had come to relieve the New Jersey bar of the task of defending without compensation indigents accused of indictable crimes. The impetus behind the Rush decision was that the burden of assignments had vastly increased, due to both the ever-growing number of cases and the greater amount of time required for each case by virtue of new developments in the criminal law. Ibid. The Court found that the legislation mandating that the county pay for all necessary expenses of prosecution, L. 1933, c. 19 § 1, now codified at N.J.S.A. 2A:158-7, required the county to pay attorney fees for indigent defendants. Id. at 414-15, 217 A. 2d 441. The Court reasoned that costs of providing counsel for indigent defendants fell within the necessary expenses of prosecution because under Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed. 2d 799 (1963), the prosecution of an indigent defendant would halt and inevitably fail unless the defendant were represented by counsel. Rush, supra, 46 N.J. at 415, 217 A. 2d 441. Having found legislative authority for placing the financial burden on the county, the Court nevertheless delayed the effective date of its decision so as to provide the Legislature with the opportunity to decide how to finance legal representation for indigent defendants. Ibid. The Court noted that the Legislature could provide for indigent defendants by continuing the appointment system, by establishing a public defender, or by providing a system combining the two. Ibid. The Legislature chose to create the OPD.