Court Opinion

ID: 9559844
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:36:34.548493+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:11:48.094626
License: Public Domain

Judge SCHWARTZMAN,
CONCURRING.
I fully concur in the opinion of this Court, but write only to reflect upon some of the ironies that have befallen inmate Garcia. Indeed, I would assert there is something slightly Kafkaesque about all of this.
From the outset, all Garcia wanted was to participate in the Idaho hearing process and express his position, given the fact that he is incarcerated in the Frio County Detention Center, located in Pearsall, Texas; is otherwise destitute;1 and is serving a fifteen-year Idaho judgment of conviction, with ten years fixed. He files a verified pro se answer and meekly requests an opportunity to appear telephonically. From this point on, the system basically ignores him and, ironically, uses the fact that he failed to appear against him.
For example, the state (Bureau) asserts in its brief that “Appellant [Garcia] failed to appear at trial or to provide any evidence to rebut the presumption [that Garcia was capable of earning the minimum wage of $823 per month].” The state further argues in its brief that Garcia’s defense was frivolous, unreasonable and without foundation: “The case at hand was not defended at all. Appellant [Garcia] filed an Answer to the Complaint, but failed to appear at the time of trial, either in person or through an attorney, to present any defenses to this action____ Presenting no defense at all is perhaps the most extreme example of a frivolous, unreasonable and unfounded defense. The Magistrate’s order awarding attorney fees ($395.00 to the state) was not an abuse of discretion [under Idaho Code § 12-121].”
Perhaps the state is right when it asserts an argument of unreasonableness. It just cites to the wrong code section: § 12-1172 seems more appropriate. As I said, there is something slightly Kafkaesque going on here.

. His current Institutional Inmate Account reflects a balance of $48.41 and his inmate janitor employment earns him 25 cents an hour, not to exceed $30 per month. From this, he must purchase his own hygiene items, writing materials, stamps, and accessories, etc.

. Idaho Code § 12-117 provides for an award of attorney fees against a state agency when the court finds it acted without a reasonable basis in fact or law.