Opinion ID: 1611086
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: State Constitutional Rights

Text: The Louisiana Constitution ensures similar rights to the assistance of counsel for a criminal defendant as those arising under the federal constitution. Louisiana Const. art. 1, § 13 provides in relevant part: At each stage of the proceedings, every person is entitled to assistance of counsel of his choice, or appointed by the court if he is indigent and charged with an offense punishable by imprisonment. As the Supreme Court has distinguished between the extent of the federal constitutional right to counsel of choice between retained or volunteered, and appointed counsel, so too has this court distinguished between the right to counsel of choice when dealing with appointed counsel, and counsel retained or volunteering his or her services: As a general proposition a person accused in a criminal trial has the right to counsel of his choice. State v. Leggett, 363 So.2d 434 (La.1978); State v. Mackie, 352 So.2d 1297 (La.1977); State v. Anthony, 347 So.2d 483 (La.1977). If a defendant is indigent he has the right to court appointed counsel. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963); Argersinger v. Hamlin, [407 U.S. 25, 92 S.Ct. 2006, 32 L.Ed.2d 530 (1972)]; State v. Adams, 369 So.2d 1327 (La.1979); City of Baton Rouge v. Dees, 363 So.2d 530 (La.1978). An indigent defendant does not have the right to have a particular attorney appointed to represent him. State v. Rideau, 278 So.2d 100 (La. 1973). An indigent's right to choose his counsel only extends so far as to allow the accused to retain the attorney of his choice, if he can manage to do so, but that right is not absolute and cannot be manipulated so as to obstruct orderly procedure in courts and cannot be used to thwart the administration of justice. State v. Jones, 376 So.2d 125 (La.1979); State v. Leggett, supra ; State v. Mackie, supra . State v. Scott, XXXX-XXXX p. 8 (La. 1/19/06), 921 So.2d 904, cert. denied, 549 U.S. 858, 127 S.Ct. 137, 166 L.Ed.2d 100 (2006), overruled in part on other grounds, State v. Dunn, XXXX-XXXX (La.1/25/08), 974 So.2d 658; citing State v. Harper, 381 So.2d 468, 470-471 (La.1980). Similar to the federal court, this court has determined that the right to counsel of choice extends to a criminal defendant who has hired his own counsel. In addition, the right to counsel of choice extends to a defendant who has had an attorney hired for him by a collateral source. In State v. Jones, 1997-2593 (La.3/4/98), 707 So.2d 975, the defendant's father retained an attorney to represent his son. This court held that both the federal and state constitutions precluded the removal of counsel obtained through a collateral source. Id., 1997-2593 p. 3, 707 So.2d at 977. The right to counsel of choice also extends under the state constitution to a criminal defendant for whom an attorney volunteers his legal services. State v. Sims, 2007-2216 p. 1 (La.11/16/07), 968 So.2d 721, 722 (The right to private, nonappointed counsel of choice does not distinguish between a paid attorney and a pro bono lawyer.), citing Caplin & Drysdale, 491 U.S. at 624-625, 109 S.Ct. 2646. Although the written order accompanying the writ grant in Sims does not include the facts of the case, the court record shows that a question of the indigent status of the criminal defendant was raised immediately prior to trial. Although counsel from the public defender's office had initially been appointed to represent the defendant, immediately prior to trial, the trial judge determined the defendant did not satisfy the requirements for indigency and ordered the defendant to retain counsel. Instead, a supervising attorney at a local law school's clinical program agreed to volunteer her representation of the defendant pro bono. When the defendant appeared in court with volunteer counsel, the trial court removed volunteer counsel, ordered the defendant to hire a private, paid lawyer, and forbade the defendant from being represented by any attorney working pro bono. The court of appeal denied a writ of review. This court issued a written order, granting the defendant's writ. This court ruled that the trial court erred in removing the defendant's volunteer counsel of choice, reversed the trial court's order removing volunteer counsel and reinstated volunteer counsel's representation of the defendant. Sims, 2007-2216 p. 1, 968 So.2d at 722. However, similar to the constitutional rights afforded under the federal constitution, under our state constitution, a criminal defendant is not entitled to choose his appointed private counsel or the appointed public defender.