Court Opinion

ID: 9705837
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:23:16.022473+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:16.505325
License: Public Domain

*98M. J. Kelly, J.
(dissenting). I would reverse the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion for a jury trial and blood test at county expense and remand this case for trial forthwith ordering the trial court to grant defendant’s motions as to blood test and jury trial at county expense. It seems to me uselessly redundant to require two indigency showings; one for appointment of counsel, and another for receiving a blood test at county expense in the same proceeding. I would likewise find the refusal to grant a jury trial in this quasi-criminal proceeding an abuse of discretion. I do not find a constitutional right to a jury trial nor that this is a criminal proceeding. Appellant is entitled to a civil jury but the fee should be at public expense for the same reasons that he’s entitled to an attorney and a blood test at public expense.
I would reverse.