People v. Craig

Opinion

PUGLIA, P. J.

Defendant’s probation was revoked in a Trinity County case and he was sentenced to state prison for sale of methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379). He appeals. Since defendant’s contentions are without merit, we shall affirm.

[1068]

In the published part of this opinion, we reject defendant’s contention that he is entitled to the benefit of a so called “implied plea bargain.”

1

Although the substance of this contention does not merit publication, the fact the question is even raised is symptomatic of a general problem involving an issue of continuing public interest (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 976(b)(3)): the provision of counsel at public expense for indigent criminal appellants.

The vast majority of criminal appellants who come before this court are indigent and are represented by counsel appointed by the court and compensated for their efforts from public funds appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature. In the aggregate, those funds constitute a substantial part of this court’s annual operating budget. Appointed counsel’s obligations to their clients require that they raise in the appeal all arguable issues on their clients’ behalf. What is and is not an arguable issue depends both on the facts established in the record on appeal and on the state of the law. It is frequently a matter of opinion and therefore necessarily left to the professional judgment of counsel. However, that is not to say all issues are incapable of definitive classification. In some cases there may be issues on one extreme of the continuum which are indisputably arguable. On the opposite extreme of the continuum may be issues which are manifestly and indisputably not arguable. For want of a better description, the latter are “nonissues.” This appeal involves a nonissue. It is unarguably not arguable. It is not merely frivolous, it is utterly hopeless.

Relatively few opinions in criminal appeals are published in the official reports because they do not meet the standards for publication (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 976). As a consequence, these appeals occupy a substratum in the universe of appellate decisions out of the focus of public attention. For this reason, systemic problems in the delivery of legal services to indigent criminal appellants at public expense are largely obscured from public view. We emphasize again the larger dimensions of the problem of frivolous issues on appeal of which this case is merely one of numerous examples. In so doing, we do not intend to imply that the problem is pandemic. We recognize that the majority of attorneys who accept appointments to represent indigent appellants render their services consistent with the highest professional standards of the bar. Our purpose in publishing this opinion is not to single out anyone in particular for condemnation but to inform the bar and the public of the nature and extent of the problem, and to dispel any misunderstanding as to this court’s views on the subject by broadcasting them as widely as possible. We also hope to ameliorate the problem by publication of