ISAAC F. THOMPSON, APPELLANT,
v.
SIMPSON UNTERBERGER, APPELLEE
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Isaac Thompson appeals the denial of his mandamus petition seeking to compel his appellate counsel to provide him with trial transcripts and case records. The Florida District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that transcripts provided at public expense for an indigent defendant's appeal do not become counsel's property and cannot be withheld for photocopying costs.
Appointed counsel cannot require payment for photocopying trial transcripts provided at public expense. While counsel may reasonably require reimbursement for postage, Thompson should not be charged for photocopying costs absent compelling justification. Counsel need not surrender work product unless Thompson specifically identifies what records he requires and demonstrates they are his personal property.
[1] Transcripts provided at public expense to facilitate an indigent defendant's appeal do not become the property of counsel upon completion of the appeal.
[2] Appointed counsel may not require a former client to pay the cost of photocopying transcripts that were provided at public expense for the client's appeal.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Transcripts provided at public expense to facilitate an indigent defendant s appeal do not become the property of counsel once the appeal has been completed.”
Establishes the core holding that publicly-funded transcripts remain available to the defendant regardless of counsel's possession
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThompson was sentenced to death in 1982 for first-degree murder. His appellate counsel, appointed by the court, successfully appealed the sentence to …
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PER CURIAM.
Isaac Thompson appeals the denial of his petition for writ of mandamus. We reverse.
The petition is directed to the attorney who represented Thompson in his appeal from a 1982 sentence of death, and who was appointed by the court for that purpose. The appeal was successful in that the sentence was commuted to life in prison, but Thompson’s conviction for first degree murder was affirmed. Thompson v. State, 456 So. 2d 444 (Fla.1984). Thompson now seeks to compel counsel to provide him “with a true and correct copy of the case records ... including but not limited to the transcripts of petitioner’s trial.” Counsel has agreed to furnish the transcripts in his possession only if provided in advance with the cost of photocopying and postage. Counsel maintains that he possesses “no papers or documents furnished by [Thompson]” apart from the trial transcripts.
The claim asserted in the petition is quite similar to Bermed v. Tacher, 565 So. 2d 833 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), in which the district court directed appointed counsel to furnish the petitioner with materials prepared in the course of representation. Transcripts provided at public expense to facilitate an indigent defendant s appeal do not become the property of counsel once the appeal has been completed. We therefore see no reason why Thompson should be required to pay the cost of photocopying, in lieu of receiving the original transcript now in counsel’s possession.
After remand, unless counsel can advance some compelling justification for imposing this expense upon Thompson, the trial court should grant the petition for mandamus if such action remains necessary to insure that Thompson receives his trial transcripts. On the other hand, we do not believe that counsel’s insistence upon being reimbursed for postage is unreasonable, and the trial court should not require counsel to shoulder this burden. Furthermore, unless Thompson can identify with specificity the other “case records” he requires, and can demonstrate that they are his personal property and not counsel’s work product, counsel should not be required to surrender or reproduce the contents of his file without adequate compensation.
Reversed.
SCHOONOVER, C.J., and CAMPBELL and THREADGILL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (18 total)
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Kurtis J. Smith v. State, 696 So. 2d 814 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)…may not receive free copies of documents requested under the public records law. See Roesch v. State, 633 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1993); Yanke v. State, 588 So. 2d 4 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), rev. denied, 595 So. 2d 559 (Fla.1992). See also Thompson v. Unterberger, 577 So. 2d 684 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991) (transcripts paid for at public expense are available to an indigent prisoner at no cost). Mandamus is a common law remedy used to enforce an “established legal right by compelling a person in an official capacity to perform an i…
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Potts v. State, 869 So. 2d 1223 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…al property. See Long v. Dillinger, 701 So. 2d 1168, 1169 (Fla.1997). However, transcripts that were prepared at public expense on behalf of an indigent defendant must be provided to the defendant without charge for copying. Thompson v. Unterberger, 577 So. 2d 684, 685-86 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991); Colon v. Irwin, 732 So. 2d 428, 429 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). Similarly, a defendant is entitled to the return of personal property that he or she provided to counsel. See Thompson, 577 So. 2d at 686. “Mandamus is the appropri…
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Pearce v. Sheffey, 647 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)…has previously held that an indigent defendant is entitled to possession of a transcript which was provided at public expense to his court-appointed counsel, without being required to pay for photocopying the transcript. See Thompson v. Unterberger, 577 So. 2d 684 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). Mandamus is the appropriate remedy since it is used to compel an official to perform lawful duties. A court-appointed lawyer is an “official.” See Eichelberger v. Brueckheimer, 613 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Thompson v. Unte…
Previewing 3 of 18 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Thompson v. State, 456 So. 2d 444 (Fla. 1984)
- Bermed v. Tacher, 565 So. 2d 833 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)