Opinion ID: 1960543
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion to be Declared Indigent

Text: In her first six assignment of errors, the defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in not finding her indigent. She further argues that she was entitled to make a showing of need for state-funded experts, but that her right was foreclosed by the court's denial of her motion on indigent status. See State v. Touchet, 93-2839, p. 6 (La.9/6/94), 642 So.2d 1213, 1216 (holding that for an indigent defendant to be granted the services of an expert at the expense of the state, he must establish that there exists a reasonable probability both that an expert would be of assistance to the defense and that the denial of expert assistance would result in a fundamentally unfair trial). On August 29, 1995, approximately one week before the defendant's trial was to begin, the trial court conducted a brief evidentiary hearing on the defendant's motion to have herself declared indigent. [2] The court allowed the defendant to take the stand and testify as to her financial status and ability to pay for the expert services she was requesting that the state fund. The defendant testified that her mother had retained counsel for her, that neither she nor her family owned any real property, that she owned a nineteen-year-old Ford Elite which she bought for $600, that she had accrued benefits with the New Orleans Police department but did not know how much or how she could access the money, and that her mother had sold her furniture for approximately $6000.00, which was used to pay pre-existing obligations and her attorney's fee. The trial court denied her motion on the following day, stating that she was not indigent. [3] In its November 27, 2000, per curiam to this court on the issue of the defendant's indigent status, the trial court explained that it had not found the defendant indigent, because it found that she had certain funds available for her defense, consisting of $3800.00 in pension benefits, $1800.00 from furlough time, and $6000.00 from the sale of her furniture. Therefore, the trial court based its finding on the fact that, at most, the defendant at one time had available the approximate sum of $11,600.00 for her defense. A trial court must consider several factors before determining whether a defendant is indigent and may review its determination at any time during the proceedings. Louisiana Rev.Stat. 15:147(B)(1) provides that: In determining whether or not a person is indigent and entitled to the appointment of counsel, the court shall consider whether the person is a needy person and the extent of his ability to pay. The court may consider such factors as income or funds from employment or any other source, including public assistance, to which the accused is entitled, property owned by the accused or in which he has an economic interest, outstanding obligations, the number and ages of dependents, employment and job training history, and level of education. See also State v. Adams, 369 So.2d 1327, 1329 (La.1979) (citing La.Rev.Stat. 15:147 and 15:148); W. LaFave and J. Israel, 2 Criminal Procedure § 11.2(e) (1984) (recognizing that the Supreme Court has never offered a specific definition of indigency, but noting that most jurisdictions consider the following factors: (1) income from employment and governmental programs such as social security and unemployment benefits; (2) money on deposit; (3) ownership of real and personal property; (4) total indebtedness and expense; (5) the number of persons dependent on the appellant for support; (6) the cost of the transcript on appeal; and (7) the likely fee of retained counsel for the appeal.). Applying these factors for determining indigency to the evidence adduced at the August 29, 1995, hearing and through the trial court's investigation into the defendant's benefits from the police department, the record reflects the following: (1) defendant initially retained defense counsel through her mother; (2) defendant had been terminated from the police force and was receiving no income; (3) defendant had accrued retirement benefits of approximately $3,800, which the trial court ordered to go directly to the court reporters; (4) defendant had access to approximately $1800.00 from furlough time; (5) defendant did not own any real property; (6) defendant owned a 1976 Ford Elite for which she paid $600, and which was impounded by police; (7) defendant had sold all her furniture and effects two weeks after her arrest for approximately $6,000; (8) defendant had her mother use money from sale of furniture to pay existing debts and attorney's fees; (9) defendant's mother did not own any real property and is disabled; and (10) defendant had $600 in savings at the time of her arrest, and nothing in savings at the time of the indigency hearing. In addition, with the motion to proceed as an indigent, defendant and both her attorneys submitted affidavits indicating that defendant had exhausted all of her personal funds. Under the standards set forth in our jurisprudential and statutory law, the defendant was indigent for the purposes of obtaining state-funded expert assistance. Even if, at one time, the defendant may have had access to approximately $11,000.00, Louisiana law provides that the trial court may reassess a determination of indigency at any time, in recognition of the fact that a defendant's financial status may not be static and that a defendant may become indigent at any point in the proceedings. See La.Rev.Stat. 15:147(A)(1)(a) (providing that a determination of indigency may be reviewed by the court at any... stage of the proceedings); State v. Barnes, 496 So.2d 1056, 1059 (La.App. 4th Cir.1986) (finding that a defendant is considered indigent for sentencing purposes if he is found to be indigent at any point in the proceedings, including while on appeal); State v. Huffman, 480 So.2d 396, 398-99 (La.App. 4th Cir.1985) (same). On August 29, 1995, the defendant testified that the $6000.00 received for her furniture had already been used to satisfy pre-existing obligations and to pay attorney's fees. Further, the trial judge ordered that the money the defendant had accrued in her retirement fund go directly to the court reporters for transcripts. At most, under the trial court's calculation, the defendant was left with approximately $1800.00 at the time of the pre-trial hearing. Even assuming she had access to that money to pay counsel and assuming that the entire $6,000 in proceeds from the sale of defendant's furniture all went to counsel's fee, that sum is low compared to what a reasonable retained counsel might charge to represent someone in a capital case. We further note that eight months after the defendant's trial ended, the same trial judge declared her indigent for purposes of her appeal, although the record reflects no change in the defendant's financial status from the pre-trial hearing. Thus, we find that the trial judge abused his discretion in not declaring the defendant indigent at the pre-trial hearing. However, that determination does not end the inquiry, as the court must now consider what, if any, prejudice the defendant suffered as a result of not being declared indigent. In Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 76, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 1092, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985), the United States Supreme Court construed the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause to guarantee that, in a prosecution against an indigent defendant, the state take steps to assure that the defendant has a fair opportunity to present his defense. One step the state must take is to ensure that the indigent defendant is provided with effective assistance of counsel. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). A further component of the state's obligation to provide effective assistance of counsel is to also furnish the indigent defendant's counsel with all of the `basic tools of an adequate defense.' Ake, 470 U.S. at 77, 105 S.Ct. at 1093 (quoting Britt v. North Carolina, 404 U.S. 226, 227, 92 S.Ct. 431, 433, 30 L.Ed.2d 400 (1971)). The Court in Ake held that a state-funded psychiatric expert is a basic tool for a defendant's case, when the defendant demonstrates to the trial judge that his sanity at the time of the offense is to be a significant factor at trial.... 470 U.S. at 83, 104 S.Ct. at 1096. This court has extended the constitutional right of indigent defendants recognized in Ake to other types of expert assistance considered crucial to an indigent's defense. For example, this court has held that the right to a private investigator may in many cases be an adjunct to the right to counsel, because furnishing counsel to the indigent defendant is not enough if counsel cannot secure information on which to construct a defense. State v. Madison, 345 So.2d 485, 490 (La.1977) (citing United States v. Johnson, 238 F.2d 565, 572 (2d Cir.1956) (Frank, J., dissenting); Note, The Indigent's Right to an Adequate Defense: Expert and Investigational Assistance in Criminal Proceedings, 55 Cornell L.Rev. 632 (1970); Note, Right to Aid in Addition to Counsel for Indigent Criminal Defendants, 47 Minn.L.Rev. 1054 (1963); ABA Standards for Criminal Justice Relating to Proving Defense Services (1967), § 1.5 and commentary). In Madison, the court reiterated the fundamental principle that the kind of trial a man gets cannot be made to depend on the amount of money he has. Id. (citing Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956)). Therefore, when an indigent defendant shows that his attorney is unable to obtain existing evidence crucial to the defense, the means to obtain it should be provided for him. Id. (finding that indigent defendant in that case had not made a sufficient showing of need to justify the procurement of an investigator). In State v. Craig, 93-2515, 93-2654, 93-2589, p. 13 (La.5/23/94), 637 So.2d 437, 446-47, the court upheld a trial court decision ordering payment for the services of an investigator, a psychologist, and a mitigation expert, finding that those services were necessary to provide the indigent defendant with an adequate opportunity to present his defense. However, the court in Craig recognized that an indigent defendant's unlimited right to state-funded expert services would carry with it a great potential for abuse. Id. at 446. Therefore, the court emphasized that an indigent defendant wishing to obtain funding for the production or gathering of any evidence must make a showing of the necessity for those services. Id. at 447. This court addressed the specific issue of what showing an indigent needs to make in order to obtain state-funded expert assistance in more detail in State v. Touchet, 93-2839 (La.9/6/94), 642 So.2d 1213. In that case, the court elaborated on its holding in Craig, stating that: Henceforth, for an indigent defendant to be granted the services of an expert at the expense of the state, he must establish that there exists a reasonable probability both that an expert would be of assistance to the defense and that the denial of expert assistance would result in a fundamentally unfair trial. To meet this standard, a defendant must ordinarily establish, with a reasonable degree of specificity, that the assistance is required to answer a substantial issue or question that is raised by the prosecution's case or to support a critical element of the defense. If the trial court finds that the indigent defendant is able to meet this standard, it is to authorize the hiring of the expert at the expense of the state. Id. at 1216. The court's most recent pronouncement on this subject is found in State v. Jones, 97-2593, p. 4 (La.3/4/98), 707 So.2d 975, 977, where it held that the retention of private counsel from a collateral source of funds at no cost to the defendant did not affect a defendant's ability to prove indigency. The court recognized that regardless of whether a defendant derives any assistance from an ancillary source, [t]he determinative question is the defendant's indigency in assessing whether he or she is entitled to make a showing of need for state-funded expert assistance. Id. The court further suggested that even if a defendant retains counsel at his own expense, he may still be eligible for state-funded auxiliary services, but his alleged indigency status should be more closely questioned. Id. The Jones court concluded that a defendant, who has private counsel retained by a collateral source, may still be entitled to state funding for expert assistance provided he or she can meet the requirements articulated in Touchet. Id. at 977-78. The court has made clear that an indigent defendant is entitled to present a trial court with evidence of his or her need for state-funded expert assistance at a hearing on the matter. See Touchet, 642 So.2d at 1221. In the present case, the trial court precluded the defendant from making such a showing of need by refusing to find her indigent in the first place. While the defendant filed an ex parte application for expert funding, specifically requesting psychiatric/psychological expert assistance for both the guilt and penalty phase of her trial and a mitigation expert/social worker for the penalty phase and providing how much that assistance would cost, the trial court failed to address the application or hold a hearing on the matter. [4] As a result, the defendant argues she was forced to go to trial without necessary expert assistance, which prejudiced her ability to present an adequate defense at both the guilt and penalty phase. [5] Regarding the defendant's request for psychiatric and/or psychological expert assistance for the guilt phase of her trial, her argument that the trial court's error in not finding her indigent precluded her from making the appropriate showing of need for this assistance is without merit. Louisiana law is well-settled that evidence of mental condition or defect is inadmissible at the guilt phase of a capital case unless the defendant has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. State v. Koon, 96-1208, p. 19 (La.5/20/97), 704 So.2d 756, 768; State v. Deboue, 552 So.2d 355, 366 (La.1989); State v. Lecompte, 371 So.2d 239, 243 (La.1978), on rehearing, (La.5/21/79). The defendant never argued that she was insane or incompetent to proceed at trial, and, therefore, she was not entitled to admit psychiatric testimony as to her mental condition during the guilt phase in the first place. Therefore, the trial court's finding that the defendant was not indigent had no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of her case during the guilt phase of the trial. However, because both this court and the Supreme Court have repeatedly stressed that a capital defendant has the right to introduce virtually any evidence in mitigation during the penalty phase of a capital trial, we find the trial court committed error in not allowing the indigent defendant the opportunity to make a showing under Touchet as to her need for state-funded assistance for the purpose of presenting any such mitigating evidence. See State v. Brumfield, 96-2667, p. 50 (La.10/20/98), 737 So.2d 660, 686 (citing Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 605-606, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978); State ex rel. Busby v. Butler, 538 So.2d 164 (La. 1988)). By not allowing a hearing on the matter, the trial court did not provide this court with adequate information upon which to review the question of whether the defendant was entitled to the expert assistance she requested for the penalty phase of her trial and what prejudice she may have suffered as a result of not obtaining state-funded assistance. [6] See State v. Prestridge, 399 So.2d 564, 581 (La.1981) (stating that when an indigent defendant has been denied funds to obtain expert assistance, the issue on review becomes whether the denial of funds substantially prejudiced the defendant at trial); State v. Monroe, 397 So.2d 1258, 1266 (La.1981) (finding that the indigent defendant was not substantially prejudiced by the denial of expert assistance at trial). We therefore find it necessary to remand the case for an evidentiary hearing at which the defendant will be afforded the opportunity to make the necessary showing under Touchet for obtaining state-funded expert assistance. If she is able to meet the standards provided in Touchet, the trial court is to vacate the defendant's sentence, order a new penalty hearing, and order that state funds be procured so that the defendant may hire the requested experts to assist her defense at the sentencing hearing. If the trial court finds that the defendant can not make the proper showing of need, the defendant may appeal that decision to this court along with the other assignments of error concerning the penalty phase of her trial. The defendant's conviction is affirmed for the reasons that her indigent status did not have any effect on her case during the guilt phase of the trial and because we do not find that any of her other arguments constitute reversible error.