How have courts interpreted the principle of equal protection when it comes to providing trial transcripts to indigent defendants on appeal?

announced this principle in Griffin v. Illinois (1956) 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 (Griffin ), where it concluded that refusing to provide indigent defendants with trial transcripts on appeal violated equal protection. (Id . at p. 19, 76 S.Ct. 585.) The decision was grounded on a straightforward principle: that equal protection bars any distinction between criminal defendants on the basis of their economic means. (Id . at p. 17, 76 S.Ct. 585.) Because a defendant's financial status bears no rational relation to a defendant's guilt or the need for appellate review, the state could not deny to indigent defendants the opportunity for full appellate review that remained available to defendants who could afford to purchase a transcript. (Id . at pp. 18-19, 76 S.Ct. 585.) The court nonetheless found that this principle did not guarantee a complete transcript in all circumstances. Where alternatives to a full transcript suffice to safeguard an indigent

[390 P.3d 367]