The Constitution of the State of Washington gives the accused in
a criminal prosecution a right to appeal in all cases, and a state
law authorizes the furnishing of a stenographic transcript of trial
proceedings to an indigent defendant at public expense, if, in the
opinion of the trial judge, "justice will thereby be promoted."
Alleging substantial errors in his trial for murder, petitioner
moved in 1935 for a free transcript, but it was denied. The State
Supreme Court denied petitioner a writ of mandate directing the
trial judge to furnish the transcript, and dismissed petitioner's
appeal for failure to file a transcript. In 1956, petitioner
applied to the State Supreme Court for habeas corpus, charging that
failure to furnish the free transcript had violated the Due Process
and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, but the
writ was denied.
Held: Petitioner was denied his constitutional rights
under the Fourteenth Amendment; the judgment is reversed, and the
cause is remanded for further proceedings.
Griffin v.
Illinois, 351 U. S. 12. Pp.
357 U. S.
214-216.
Reversed and remanded.
PER CURIAM.
The Constitution of the State of Washington provides: "In
criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have . . . the right to
appeal in all cases. . . ." Wash.Const., Amend. 10. In 1935, after
petitioner was convicted of murder in a Washington state court and
sentenced to life
Page 357 U. S. 215
imprisonment, he gave timely notice of appeal to the Supreme
Court of the State. Washington law authorizes a trial judge to have
a stenographic transcript of trial proceedings furnished an
indigent defendant at public expense "if in his opinion justice
will thereby be promoted." Remington's Wash.Rev.Stat., 1932, ยง
42-5. Alleging substantial errors in his trial, petitioner moved
for a free transcript. The trial judge denied this motion, finding
that
"justice would not be promoted . . . , in that defendant has
been accorded a fair and impartial trial, and, in the Court's
opinion, no grave grave or prejudicial errors occurred
therein."
Petitioner then moved in the State Supreme Court for writ of
mandate ordering the trial judge to have a transcript furnished for
the prosecution of his appeal. The Supreme Court denied this
petition and simultaneously granted the State's motion to dismiss
petitioner's appeal for failure to file a certified "statement of
facts" and "transcript of record." In 1956, petitioner applied for
habeas corpus in the Washington Supreme Court charging that failure
to furnish a free transcript of the proceedings had violated the
Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution. His petition was
denied without opinion, and we granted certiorari. 353 U.S.
922.
In this Court, the State does not deny petitioner's allegations
of poverty, the substantiality of the trial errors he alleges, or
the necessity for him to have some record of the proceedings in
order to prosecute his appeal properly. It does argue that
petitioner might have utilized notes compiled by someone other than
the official court reporter. Assuming that, under some
circumstances, such notes could be an adequate substitute for a
court reporter's transcript, there is nothing in this record to
show that any were available to petitioner, and the Washington
courts appear to have proceeded on the
Page 357 U. S. 216
assumption that he could not effectively prosecute his appeal
unless the motion for a free transcript was granted. The State
concedes that the reporter's transcript from the 1935 trial is
still available. In
Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U. S.
12, we held that a State denies a constitutional right
guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment if it allows all convicted
defendants to have appellate review except those who cannot afford
to pay for the records of their trials. We hold that Washington has
denied this constitutional right here. The conclusion of the trial
judge that there was no reversible error in the trial cannot be an
adequate substitute for the right to full appellate review
available to all defendants in Washington who can afford the
expense of a transcript. We do not hold that a State must furnish a
transcript in every case involving an indigent defendant. But here,
as in the
Griffin case, we do hold that "[d]estitute
defendants must be afforded as adequate appellate review as
defendants who have money enough to buy transcripts."
Griffin
v. Illinois, 351 U. S. 12,
351 U. S.
19.
The judgment of the Washington Supreme Court is reversed, and
the cause is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with
this opinion.
Reversed and remanded.
MR. JUSTICE HARLAN and MR. JUSTICE WHITTAKER, believing that on
this record the
Griffin case, decided in 1956, should not
be applied to this conviction occurring in 1935, would affirm the
judgment.
MR. JUSTICE FRANKFURTER, not having heard the argument, took no
part in the consideration or disposition of the case.