Right to representation by a lawyer. This uncompromisable integral fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution was not always there. Good ol’ lawyers would know a bit of its history. This important right in U.S. Constitution is usually associated with the case Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).
The Origin
“[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”
Added with the sixth amendment in U.S. Constitution, this applied in most of the federal prosecutions in the nation’s history. This protection to defendants, however, wasn’t practiced in most states earlier. Johnson v. Indiana, 948 N.E.2d 331, 336 (Ind. 2011) is one of the early cases to recognize this right at public expense in the 1850s.
The U.S. Supreme Court finally applied this right to the states in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963). This, however, was only applicable in felony cases at that time. State misdemeanor charges proceedings in Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25, 40 (1972) under the argument of the risk, “the actual deprivation of a person’s liberty” and also the state juvenile criminal cases under In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967), recognized this right later on for the corresponding types of cases.
Public Defender
Although in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963) established the right to counsel, under the Sixth Amendment, on the public expense, it left out the fine details for the requirements for a lawyer to be a recognized public defender.
Choice of Attorney
The right to counsel of the defendant’s choosing was gradually accepted. However, in Wheat v. the United States, 486 U.S. 153 (1988), the U.S. Supreme Court added the provision for the denial of an attorney if the court concludes a significant conflict of interest of the attorney. The U.S. Supreme Court also held the verdict of the non-existence of a right to a “meaningful relationship” with their attorney for the defendant and added the denial of choice for a defendant in the case of appointing a public defender in Morris v. Slappy, 461 U.S. 1, 14 (1983), stating that a trial cannot be delayed on the reason of unavailability of a specific public defender.
Right of Self-Representation
The right of self-representation in a criminal trial is also allowed by the U.S. Constitution. This is also known as appearing pro se in legal terms. In such cases, however, the court must make sure that the defendant is doing it voluntarily and is fully aware of their choice.
Ineffective counsel
In Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 688-92 (1984), the court also added that shall the defendant demonstrate the inadequateness of the attorney and that it was prejudicial to the case, the defendant way be entitled to relief according to laws.
Right to counsel in misdemeanor cases
Although the right to counsel was applied to states after v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), it left a series of unanswered questions for many. It was not until later that, in Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972), the problem of whether the right to counsel that was applied for a felony could be applied for a misdemeanor or serious misdemeanor crimes was solved. In this solution, the court held that the right applied in any misdemeanor case where imprisonment could be imposed— that a person can’t be sentenced to jail in absence of an attorney, even in case of a criminal charge.
