Fulton County v. State

Thompson, Justice.

The State is seeking the death penalty against Brian Nichols in this murder case. He was declared indigent and counsel was appointed to represent him. Due to budgetary constraints of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, the trial court held a hearing to determine who would pay the escalating costs of Brian Nichols’ defense. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court entered an order requiring Fulton County to pay a portion of Nichols’ expenses. More particularly, the trial court ordered the county to cover the costs of transcribing telephone conversations…