Wake County Ex Rel. Carrington v. Townes

BECTON, Judge.

The sole issue in this appeal is one of first impression in North Carolina: whether an indigent defendant in a paternity suit instituted by the State has a constitutional due process right to court-appointed legal counsel. Based on the Fourteenth Amendment due process requirements of the United States Constitution, and on the Law of the Land provision in Article I, Section 19 of the North Carolina Constitution, 1 we hold that an indigent defendant has a right to appointed counsel in paternity suits instituted by the State.

I

Due process must be afforded when a State seeks to…