Certiorari was granted in this case, 370 U.S. 935, 82 S.Ct. 1589, 8 L.Ed.2d 806, in order that the Court might consider whether the State of Washington's rules governing the provision of transcripts to indigent criminal defendants for purposes of appeal were applied in this case so as to deprive petitioners of rights guaranteed them by the Fourteenth Amendment.
This Court has dealt recently with the constitutional rights of indigents to free transcripts on appeal in Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 and Eskridge v. Washington State Board of Prison Terms and Paroles, 357 U.S. 214, 78 S.Ct. 1061, 2 L.Ed.2d 1269. The principle of Griffin is that '(d)estitute defendants must be afforded as adequate appellate review as defendants who have money enough to buy transcripts,' 351 U.S., at 19, 76 S.Ct., at 591, a holding restated in Eskridge to be 'that a State denies a constitutional right guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment if it allows all convicted defendants to have appellate review except those who cannot afford to pay for the records of their trials,' 357 U.S., at 216, 78 S.Ct., at 1062. In Eskridge the question was the validity of Washington's long-standing procedure whereby an indigent defendant would receive a stenographic transcript at public expense only if, in the opinion of the trial judge, 'justice will thereby be promoted.' Id., at 215, 78 S.Ct., at 1062. This Court held per curiam that, given Washington's guarantee of the right to appeal to the accused in all criminal prosecutions, Wash.Const. Art. I, § 22 and Amend. 10, '(t)he conclusion of the trial judge that there was no reversible error in the trial cannot be an adequate substitute for the right to full appellate review available to all defendants in Washington who can afford the expense of a transcript,' id., at 216, 78 S.Ct., at 1062, and remanded the cause for further proceedings not inconsistent with the opinion. In response, in Woods v. Rhay, 54 Wash.2d 36, 338 P.2d 332 (1959), a case which was remanded by this Court for reconsideration in light of Eskridge two weeks after that case was decided, 357 U.S. 575, 78 S.Ct. 1387, 2 L.Ed.2d 1547, the Supreme Court of Washington formulated a new set of rules to govern trial judges in passing upon indigents' requests for free stenographic transcripts:
'1. An indigent defendant in his motion for a free statement of facts must set forth:
'a. The fact of his indigency
'b. The errors which he claims were committed; and if it is claimed that the evidence is insufficient to justify the verdict, he shall specify with particularity in what respect he believes the evidence is lacking. (The allegations of error need not be expressed in any technical form but must clearly indicate what is intended).
'2. If the state is of the opinion that the errors alleged can properly be presented on appeal without a transcript of all the testimony,
'a. it may make a showing of what portion of the transcript will be adequate, or
'b. if it believes that a narrative statement will be adequate, it must show that such a statement is or will be available to the defendant.
'3. The trial court in disposing of an indigent's motion for a statement of facts at county expense shall enter findings of fact upon the following matters:
'a. The defendant's indigency
'b. Which of the errors, if any, are frivolous and the reasons why they are frivolous
'c. Whether a narrative form of statement of facts will be adequate to present the claimed errors for review and will be available to the defendant; and, if not
'd. What portion of the stenographic transcript will be necessary to effectuate the indigent's appeal.
'4. The trial court's disposition of the motion shall be by definitive order.' 54 Wash.2d, at 44-45, 338 P.2d, at 337.