State ex rel. Missouri Public Defender Commission v. Pratte

MICHAEL A. WOLFF, Judge.

Introduction

These writ proceedings raise the question of the role of the courts, the public defender commission and the legal profession in fulfilling Missouri’s constitutional obligation to provide attorneys to represent indigent defendants facing incarceration for their alleged crimes.

There is an apocryphal story in legal circles that a well-known prosecutor some years ago voiced his support for the state to provide attorneys for those accused of serious crimes, noting that without legal representation, an accused cannot be tried: “I can’t fry 'em if I can’t try 'em.”