Pendry v. State

HERRMANN, Chief Justice:

This appeal requires a decision as to which public entity — the State or the County — is obliged to pay for the trial transcript in an appeal by the indigent defendants in this criminal case.

I

The defendants were convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life imprisonment. They had been found indigent and were represented at the consolidated trial by the Public Defender.

Following trial, the defendants’ parents retained private counsel to represent the defendant on their appeals to this Court. The Public Defender was permitted to withdraw. The defendants…