Ingram v. Justice Court

On this appeal from a judgment ordering issuance of a writ of mandate, we are called upon to decide whether the trial court has the power to review the determina tion of a public defender that an accused who requests his services is “not financially able to employ counsel” (Gov. Code, §27706, subd. (a)). We conclude that such a determination is not subject to judicial, as distinguished from political, review and that this rule is applicable although the public defender’s services are sought for a collateral attack on a final judgment rather than a defense to a pending charge.

In 1959 Marcus…