WAKE COUNTY, EX REL. CARRINGTON v. TOWNES

No. 128A81.

293 S.E.2d 95 (1982)

WAKE COUNTY, ex rel. Evelyn CARRINGTON v. Daniel TOWNES.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

July 13, 1982.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Asst. Wake County Atty. Shelley T. Eason, Raleigh, for plaintiff-appellant.

Atty. Gen. Rufus L. Edmisten by Asst. Atty. Gen. Clifton H. Duke, Raleigh, amicus curiae for plaintiff-appellant.

East Central Community Legal Services by Gregory C. Malhoit and M. Travis Payne, Raleigh, for defendant-appellee.

North Carolina Civil Liberties Union by Stanley Sprague, Greensboro, amicus curiae for defendant-appellee.


COPELAND, Justice.

The dispositive issue, which is also one of first impression in our Court, is whether constitutional due process guarantees the provision of appointed legal counsel to an indigent defendant in a civil paternity suit instituted by a county on behalf of its department of social services' child support enforcement agency. We conclude that indigent defendants do not have an absolute constitutional right to appointed counsel in this legal...

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