In re Colorado v. Shank

At issue before the Colorado Supreme Court was whether the Office of the State Public Defender (“the P.D.”) was authorized to represent an indigent party in a civil forfeiture proceeding. The State argued that the P.D. did not have statutory authority to enter its appearance in civil forfeiture matters. Respondent Alyse Shank argued the statute that authorized the P.D. to represent indigent defendants in criminal proceedings contained a general grant of authority for the P.D. to appear in any case where the P.D. deemed such representation to be in the interest of justice. The State moved to have the the public defender disqualified. After review, the Supreme Court held that the statute authorizing public defenders to represent indigent defendants did not extend to civil forfeiture actions. Thus, the trial court erred by denying the People’s motion to disqualify. View "In re Colorado v. Shank" on Justia Law