American Samoa Government v. Sanerivi

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR PUBLIC FUNDS TO INVESTIGATE WITNESSES

Defendants bring this motion for funding to interview witnesses in (Independent ) Samoa. Defendants have been declared indigent and have been appointed public counsel. Their motion, therefore, falls under the ambit of AM. SAMOA Rev. Const, art. 1 § 6, which provides every defendant with the right to have the effective assistance of counsel. See Suisala v. Moaali’itele, 6 A.S.R.2d 15 (Trial Div. 1987) (incorporating *342Federal effective assistance of counsel standard); A.S.C.A. §§ 46.0502 and 46.1001.

The effective assistance of…