Easily v. State

I withdraw my dissenting opinion dated August 16, 2007 and issue the following opinion in its stead. I respectfully dissent. This case is about a conviction and 99-year sentence of an indigent defendant that was probably caused by the defendant’s non-crime of hiring constitutionally deficient counsel. The majority takes the fact that appellant, who had been adjudicated indigent, discharged his appointed counsel and retained counsel for his retrial, and therefore could not pursue a free record of his prior trial, as grounds for finding that appellant was not indigent for purposes of obtaining…