Court Opinion

ID: 9579234
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:52:52.852284+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:33:05.449231
License: Public Domain

Justice Higgins
concurring in result.
I cannot agree with that part of the opinion which intimates that if a defendant is able to employ counsel for the purpose of advising him, or being with him at the interrogation, that he is not an indigent within the meaning of § 7A-451 of the General Statutes.
The entitlement begins when the defendant is taken into custody or served with initiating process and continues through all critical stages including reviews by appeal. The statute does not contemplate that separate counsel may be appointed for each successive step in the trial, but I think contemplates that the same counsel will continue from beginning to end subject *740to the right of the court to excuse or allow substitution of counsel at any proper state.
“Entitlement continues through any critical stage of the action or proceeding including identification procedure, preliminary hearing, trial, sentencing, and review.” These are specifically stated in § 7A-451.
I concur in result.