U.S. v. Durham

Ct. of Appeals granted defendant’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis in his appeal from Dist. Ct.’s order revoking his supervised release, even though Dist. Ct. had denied defendant’s similar request, where Dist. Ct. noted that defendant had $750 in his prison account to cover $505 fee for filing appeal and further found that defendant’s appeal was frivolous. Record showed that defendant sought to proceed under Criminal Justice Act (CJA) (as opposed to 28 USC section 1915(a)) that mandates that there be plan for furnishing representation for any person financially unable to obtain adequate representation in appeal of revocation of supervised release. As such, record showed that defendant was financially eligible to proceed in forma pauperis under CJA, since defendant was unable to employ counsel with his assets, and that standards for in forma pauperis eligibility under section 1915(a) did not apply. Moreover, Ct. observed that procedures under Anders applied, such that appointed counsel could file motion to withdraw from case if counsel believed that appeal was frivolous.