Sharrow v. People

JUSTICE SAMOUR delivered the Opinion of the Court.

*732¶1 "There can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a man gets depends on the amount of money he has." Griffin v. Illinois , 351 U.S. 12, 19, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956). This declaration of timeless reverence is now imbedded in the marrow of our nation and woven into the tapestry of our criminal justice system. State and federal jurisdictions alike apply it widely beyond the trial context. But it is not without parameters. As sensitive as courts have been to the plight of indigent defendants, they have recognized that the…