Washington v. Walker County

OPINION

JACK SMITH, Justice.

This is an appeal from the denial of a writ of mandamus. Appellees refuse to issue payment to appellant in the amount certified by a district court judge for the defense of an indigent in a capital murder case. Appellees maintain that payment is prohibited under the Texas Constitution and that the State, not Walker County, is required to make payment. The trial court denied the writ.

Appellant, an attorney and state legislator, had been appointed to represent a prisoner accused of capital murder committed while incarcerated in a Texas Department of Corrections unit…