Opinion ID: 2317113
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Provision of Expert Services Through the O.P.D.

Text: The bottom line question in this case is whether the State has satisfied its constitutional obligations by establishing the O.P.D., making expert services available to clients of that Office, and requiring that, in order for an indigent to receive State-funded expert services, the defendant must seek representation by O.P.D. We conclude that the State has not deprived petitioner of any of his constitutional rights by requiring that he apply to the O.P.D. for representation before he is entitled as an indigent to State funded expert witness services. The Supreme Court contemplated in Ake that States could place restrictions on indigent defendants' access to state-funded expert services. The Court stated as follows: This is not to say, of course, that the indigent defendant has a constitutional right to choose a psychiatrist of his personal liking or to receive funds to hire his own. Our concern is that the indigent defendant have access to a competent psychiatrist for the purpose we have discussed, and as in the case of the provision of counsel we leave to the State the decision on how to implement this right. Ake, 470 U.S. at 83, 105 S.Ct. at 1096. Thus, while a State might provide funds enabling indigent defendants with retained counsel to hire experts of their own choosing, Ake does not require this approach. Moore is correct that, if he is indigent, he has a right under Ake to state-paid supporting services necessary to an adequate defense. [8] As we have indicated, supra, Maryland has established a State-wide public defender system which provides legal representation, investigative services, and expert assistance to persons deemed indigent under Art. 27A § 2. In 1971, the Legislature created the Office of the Public Defender. See 1971 Md. Laws, Ch. 209 at 486-94. The purpose of the statutes creating that agency was set forth as follows: It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State of Maryland to provide for the realization of the constitutional guarantees of counsel in the representation of indigents, including related necessary services and facilities, in criminal and juvenile proceedings within the State, and to assure effective assistance and continuity of counsel to indigent accused taken into custody and indigent defendants in criminal and juvenile proceedings before the courts of the State of Maryland, and to authorize the Office of Public Defender to administer and assure enforcement of the provisions of this article in accordance with its terms. Art. 27A § 1 (emphasis added). State v. Miller, 337 Md. 71, 651 A.2d 845 (1994), is instructive on the question of whether the State may condition the receipt of constitutionally mandated services on representation by the O.P.D. The indigent petitioner in that case, Bernard Miller, had been convicted at trial of kidnapping, robbery, murder, and other related offenses. On appeal, as at trial, he was represented by private counsel on a pro bono basis. Miller had refused the representation of the O.P.D., and further refused to permit his attorney to seek appointment as an assigned public defender and thereby submit to the supervision of the O.P.D. Had Miller's counsel taken this step, the O.P.D. would have borne the costs of obtaining a stenographic transcript of the trial proceedings. Id. at 74-75, 651 A.2d at 846. Miller filed in the Circuit Court a motion requesting that the court furnish a transcript without charge. The Circuit Court denied the motion on the grounds that Md. Rule 1-325(b) required the court to pay for a transcript only where a party was eligible for O.P.D. representation, had applied to the O.P.D., and had been declined representation by that agency. Id. at 75, 651 A.2d at 846. On appeal, Miller argued that the requirement that he be represented by, or denied representation by, the O.P.D. before receiving a free transcript violated his rights to equal protection and assistance of counsel. We affirmed the Circuit Court. After ruling that the court had correctly interpreted Md. Rule 1-325(b), we noted that under Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956), the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits a state from foreclosing all opportunity for appellate review by refusing, based solely on a defendant's indigence, to provide a trial transcript. But we also noted that Justice Black, in his plurality opinion, stated, We do not hold, however, that Illinois must purchase a stenographer's transcript in every case where a defendant cannot buy it. The [Illinois] Supreme Court may find other means of affording adequate and effective appellate review to indigent defendants. Id. at 20, 76 S.Ct. at 591. We then noted that [a]llowing the states to create reasonable alternative systems by which the constitutional rights of indigents would be protected is a concept that has been applied to other rights of indigent defendants as well. Miller, 337 Md. at 83, 651 A.2d at 850. With respect to equal protection, we concluded as follows: Miller is entitled to a free transcript, but he cannot receive it on his own terms; he must go through the Office of the Public Defender. The State is free to place reasonable restrictions on the exercise of Miller's rights, and Rule 1-325(b) is neither arbitrary nor unreasonable in its language or application. There can be no equal protection violation when an individual is denied a right simply because of his own failure to comply with reasonable state procedures and regulations. Miller, 337 Md. at 85-86, 651 A.2d at 852. Turning to Miller's Sixth Amendment claim, we noted that the Supreme Court has held that although an indigent criminal defendant enjoys the right to assistance of counsel, this entitlement does not translate into an absolute right to counsel of the defendant's choosing. Id. at 86-87, 651 A.2d at 852; see Wheat v. United States, 486 U.S. 153, 159, 108 S.Ct. 1692, 1697, 100 L.Ed.2d 140 (1988) (the essential aim of the Amendment is to guarantee an effective advocate for each criminal defendant rather than to ensure that a defendant will inexorably be represented by the lawyer whom he prefers); accord Fowlkes v. State, 311 Md. 586, 605, 536 A.2d 1149, 1159 (1988) (for indigent defendants ... the right to counsel is but a right to effective legal representation; it is not a right to representation by any particular attorney). We concluded as follows: Failure to provide a free transcript to the indigent appellant cannot interfere with the right to choice of counsel where no such absolute right exists. In the absence of such a right to choice of counsel, there is no constitutional violation when the State requires that an indigent defendant avail himself of the services of the Office of the Public Defender in order to obtain a free transcript. The State has set up a system by which all indigent appellants are provided effective assistance of counsel, whether represented by the Public Defender's Office or by a private attorney under the supervision of that office. Miller cannot pick and choose which of the State-provided services he wishes to receive; he must accept the available resources as provided under Art. 27A and the Maryland Rules. Miller has not been denied his right to assistance of counsel, because he may apply to the Office of the Public Defender and receive effective representation. The Public Defender system is Maryland's `alternative solution' as described in Griffin and Bounds [ v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977)], supra. Public Defender representation, like a transcript, is part of the `package' provided by the State, and requiring Miller to comply with reasonable State procedures in no way infringes upon his right to assistance of counsel. Miller, 337 Md. at 87-88, 651 A.2d at 853. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, sitting en banc, agreed with our holding on federal habeas corpus review. Miller v. Smith, 115 F.3d 1136 (4th Cir.1997) ( en banc ), cert. denied sub nom. Miller v. Corcoran, 522 U.S. 884, 118 S.Ct. 213, 139 L.Ed.2d 148 (1997). Our holding in Miller governs the outcome of the case sub judice. Although the Maryland Rules contain no analogue to Md. Rule 1-325(b) with respect to the appointment of experts, the practical effect of nonseverable O.P.D. services under Art. 27A is the same. Indigent defendants may utilize the O.P.D.'s complete package of services, or forgo them entirely. While such defendants may face difficult choices, the Constitution does not bar the State of Maryland from requiring them to choose between counsel of their choice and ancillary services provided by the O.P.D. Assuming arguendo that the assistance of a DNA expert was necessary to an adequate defense in the instant case, the State did not deny Moore that assistance. Rather, expert assistance was available to him so long as he complied with the procedural requirement that he apply for legal representation through the O.P.D. Imposing this requirement on Moore did not violate his constitutional rights. See Wheat, 486 U.S. at 159, 108 S.Ct. at 1697; Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 830, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 1499, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977); Fowlkes, 311 Md. at 605, 536 A.2d at 1159.