Mashaney v. Board of Indigents' Defense Services

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Beier, J.:

This case presents the question of whether a criminal defendant, whose conviction has been reversed in a K.S.A. 60-1507 proceeding and who has entered a plea to different charges pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S. Ct. 160, 27 L. Ed. 2d 162 (1970), may pursue a legal malpractice claim against trial and appellate counsel without first demonstrating actual innocence. We also are asked to decide whether the Board of Indigents’ Defense Services (BIDS) is subject to suit in the malpractice action and whether suit was timely…