The accused was in custody on serious charges and had not spoken to bail. He had been denied a lawyer by Legal Aid. Counsel brought an application for amicus curia (“friend of the court”) to be appointed for the purpose of assisting the accused in making his application for state-funded counsel (“Rowbotham application”). The Attorney General argued that the amicus application required evidence that Mr. Reinhart was incapable of conducting the Rowbotham application on his own.
Held: The Applicant took the view that the court file coupled with counsel’s submission were enough evidence to support the application. The court file demonstrated that Mr. Reinhart had been in custody for three weeks, had not spoken to bail, his co-accused were released on bail and he was facing serious charges. The Court granted the accused’s application.