Court Opinion

ID: 9858486
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 16:25:41.734641+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:54:38.106956
License: Public Domain

GARDEBRING, Justice
(dissenting).
By this opinion the majority denies to poor criminal defendants a civil remedy for the failure of their counsel to provide them an adequate defense. This action creates de facto just the kind of two-tier criminal justice system that the Supreme Court hoped to obliterate in its landmark decision, Gideon v. Wainright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963). I can find no justification for such a result and I respectfully dissent. I would hold that public defenders are not immune from suit for malpractice.
The majority opinion focuses on the differences between privately retained counsel and lawyers who practice as public defenders, noting particularly that public defenders may not reject a client, but are obligated to represent whomever is assigned to them. They are, in effect, part of a coerced relationship. Indeed! But the real disadvantage is, of course, to the indigent defendant, whom we have said has no right to choose his lawyer, State v. Fagerstrom, 286 Minn. 295, 299, 176 N.W.2d 261, 264 (1970), but must depend on whomever is assigned in matters that are of the most extreme gravity. If the public defender fails in the task of representation, he or she may be subject to an unfavorable performance appraisal; but the client may be unfairly convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison. The presence of remedies to overturn the conviction due to ineffectiveness of counsel cannot fully “right the wrong” done to someone who may have spent extended periods of time incarcerated unjustly. I believe that a civil remedy is needed.
Furthermore, the majority opinion seems to reflect a lack of confidence in the professional qualifications of the attorneys who serve as public defenders. I believe that public defenders are highly experienced professionals who provide the best possible defense based upon the financial limitations of their organizations. While the majority considers it an unfair burden to subject the public defender to malpractice stemming from acts or omissions due to impossible caseloads and an under-funded office, factors out of the control of the defender, it is even more unfair that the indigent client should suffer from misrepresentation due to under-funded offices. I do not believe this court should sanction the chronic underfunding of public defense organizations by lessening the obligations which public defenders have to their indigent clients.1
Furthermore, in the absence of immunity, I do not believe there would be an onslaught of malpractice suits filed against public defenders. First, public defenders are doing an admirable job under difficult circumstances and it is the rare case which would survive a motion to dismiss. Second, because of their indigence, defendants who have had public defenders will find it difficult to retain counsel to represent them in a malpractice suit against a public defender unless the circumstances are so outrageous as to be obvious malpractice.2
Finally, immunity is not necessary to preserve the ability to recruit and maintain dedicated professionals willing to serve as public defenders. There is no shortage of private attorneys willing to do criminal defense work without immunity. In addition, indemnity likely to be provided by the state for any malpractice awards removes any possible deterrence to recruitment and assures that public defenders will be devoted to their clients’ cases with no fears of conflict of interest. See Stephen L. Millich, *779Public Defender Malpractice Liability in California, 11 Whittier L.Rev. 535, 542 (1989).
While the cost in resources to defend such claims may be high and the resources of the public defender’s office are limited, this does not justify denying a remedy to indigent clients which is available to other defendants who are more economically advantaged.

. As at least one law review notes, "a politican (sic), at best, has little to gain by advocating large expenditure for the defender office, and at worst, much to lose.” Suzanne E. Mounts, Public Defender Programs, Professional Responsibility, and Competent Representation, 1982 Wis. L.Rev. 473, 482 (1982).

. The plaintiff in a malpractice suit has a very difficult burden of proof in that he or she must demonstrate that with adequate counsel, he or she would have obtained a more favorable outcome.