Court Opinion

ID: 9468340
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:12:27.3403+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:49.513602
License: Public Domain

LAY, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
I would reverse these convictions and grant a new trial. In my judgment it was fundamental error for the district court to deny traveling expenses to counsel to investigate the scene of the crime and have personal interviews with the defendants prior to trial. The effect of the district court’s ruling was to deny effective assistance of counsel to the defendants.
Title 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(d)(l) provides that an attorney appointed to represent an indigent defendant “shall be reimbursed for expenses reasonably incurred.” “Expenses” under subsection (d) are distinct from those described in subsection (e) which creates a procedure under which indigent defendants can obtain “investigative, expert, or other services.” Subsection (d) covers out-of-pocket expenses related to the lawyer’s own work. United States v. Pope, 251 F.Supp. 234, 240 (D.Neb.1966).
The majority cites United States v. Sailer, 552 F.2d 213 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 959, 97 S.Ct. 2687, 53 L.Ed.2d 278 (1977) and Mason v. Arizona, 504 F.2d 1345 (9th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S, 936, 95 S.Ct. 1145, 43 L.Ed.2d 412 (1975) in order to establish that the defendants must make a reasonably complete showing of necessity at the time of their request for expenses and must now make a substantial showing of prejudice on appeal. But these cases involved a handwriting expert and an investigator respectively and arose under subsection (e). The right to effective assistance of counsel is a more fundamental right, both under the statute and the Constitution, than the right to assistance from experts. The standards utilized to determine if the latter has been violated are not applicable in analyzing violations of subsection (d) of the Criminal Justice Act.
Travel expenses are clearly included in subsection (d). United States v. Owens, 256 F.Supp. 861, 864 (W.D.Pa.1966). In some cases payment has been advanced. See, e. g., United States v. Largan, 330 F.Supp. 296 (S.D.N.Y.1971). It seems fundamental that when an appointed attorney seeks advance payment for travel expenses to interview a defendant and investigate the factual charge, payment should be made in advance under the same standards that govern reimbursement.
Failure to provide necessary expense money deprives indigent defendants of the effective assistance of counsel. Numerous findings of ineffective assistance have been grounded on attorneys’ failure to fully investigate their case. See, e. g., McQueen v. Swenson, 498 F.2d 207, 216-18 (8th Cir. 1974). Judge Johnson, in United States v. Germany, 32 F.R.D. 421 (M.D.Ala.1963), wrote:
*631[A] reasonable interpretation of the constitutional requirement that effective counsel must be provided indigent defendants and that said counsel must be provided the “opportunity” to prepare the case implies something more than “time.” An essential ingredient to an attorney effectively representing a defendant in a criminal case, when it comes to determining whether that attorney has had an “opportunity” to investigate and prepare the case, is funds to pay the necessary and essential expenses of interviewing the material witnesses and in viewing the scene of the alleged crime.1
Id. at 423.
Because they were denied funds to travel to Indiana, counsel were unable to view Reed’s junkyard where Thompson and Johnson acquired a cab, bucket, and small loader; they were denied a view of the truck stop where Bibby picked up a tractor from a man named Jerry who was never located; and they were unable to personally observe the area where Johnson allegedly saw Reed and Thompson refueling a tractor. More importantly, the defendants were deprived of personal contact with their attorneys early in the case so as to allow effective preparation for trial. Denial of this opportunity precluded a meaningful opportunity for counsel and defendant to develop the personal and confidential relationship so necessary in attorney-client relations. Counsel had no opportunity to study and evaluate their clients’ credibility and thus to project possible defenses or theories for trial.
The majority opinion seemingly acknowledges these disabilities, but holds that defendants have not made a sufficient showing of prejudice. Defendants should not be required to show what benefits they would have gained from investigations and consultations they were prevented from pursuing. When the state raises structural barriers to effective assistance of counsel, no specific showing of prejudice is required. United States v. Decoster, 624 F.2d 196, 201 (D.C. Cir.1979). In Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 96 S.Ct. 1330, 47 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976), the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a petitioner who was not allowed to consult with his attorney during an evening recess. The Court explicitly held that prejudice need not be specifically alleged.
' Counsel in this case were unable to investigate several sites where elements of the crime were perpetrated and to consult with their clients on a face-to-face basis. The denial of travel expenses violated 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(d)(l) and deprived appellants of their sixth amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. I would reverse their convictions.

. In United States v. Germany, 32 F.R.D. 421 (M.D.Ala. 1963), the district court dismissed an indictment because the government refused to honor an order directing it to furnish counsel funds needed to travel to interview witnesses and view the scene of the crime. The district court relied on the sixth amendment and Fed.R. Crim.P. 15(c) which empowers courts to order the government to pay the expenses of indigent defendants’ counsel incurred in traveling to take a deposition. In United States v. Products Marketing, 281 F.Supp. 348 (D.Del.1968), the court dismissed the prosecution because the government had not advanced funds needed by counsel to travel in order to consult with defendants. Cf. Davis v. Coiner, 356 F.Supp. 695 (N.D.W.Va.1973) (equal protection case under state statute granting funds for government to take out-of-state depositions).