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Federal
constitutional guarantees of rights to counsel are
deemed to translate as applicable to state proceedings
through the Fourteenth Amendment, and upon this matter
the U.S. Supreme Court has offered much insight and
guidance.
“In
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 344-345
(1963), we held that the Sixth Amendment's
guarantee of the right to state-appointed
counsel, firmly established in federal court proceedings
in Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 (1938),
applies to state criminal prosecutions
through the Fourteenth Amendment.
We clarified the scope of that right in Argersinger,
holding that an indigent defendant
must be offered counsel in any misdemeanor case
“that actually leads
to imprisonment.” 407 U.S. at
33. Seven Terms later, Scott confirmed
Argersinger's “delimit[ation],”
440 U.S. at 373. Although the governing statute
in Scott authorized a jail sentence of
up to one year, see id. at 368, we held
that the defendant had no right to state-appointed
counsel because the sole sentence actually imposed
on him was a $50 fine, id. at 373. “Even
were the matter res nova,” we stated,
the
central premise of Argersinger -- that
actual imprisonment is a penalty different in
kind from fines or the mere threat of imprisonment
-- is eminently sound and warrants adoption of
actual imprisonment as the line defining
the constitutional right to appointment of counsel
in nonfelony cases.
Ibid.
Subsequent decisions have reiterated the Argersinger-Scott
“actual imprisonment” standard. See,
e.g., Glover v. United States,
531 U.S. 198, 203 (2001) (“any amount of actual
jail time has Sixth Amendment significance”);
M. L. B. v. S. L. J., 519 U.S. 102, 113
(1996); Nichols v. United States, 511 U.S.
738, 746 (1994) (constitutional line is “between
criminal proceedings that resulted in imprisonment,
and those that did not”); id. at 750 (SOUTER,
J., concurring in judgment) (“The Court in
Scott, relying on Argersinger[,]
drew a bright line between imprisonment and lesser
criminal penalties.”); Lassiter v. Department
of Social Servs. of Durham Cty., 452 U.S. 18,
26 (1981). It is thus the controlling
rule that, “absent a knowing and intelligent
waiver, no person may be imprisoned for any offense
. . . unless he was represented by counsel at his
trial.” Argersinger,
407 U.S. at 37.”
See
Alabama v. Shelton, 535 US 654 (#00-1214)
(2002).
The
right to counsel occupies a primary and fundamental
place among those which are to be secured to the defendant
in any criminal proceeding. A denial of counsel vitiates
jurisdiction upon its occurrence, and any judgment
rendered thereafter is utterly void.
"Since
the Sixth Amendment constitutionally entitles one
charged with crime to the assistance of counsel,
compliance with this constitutional mandate is an
essential jurisdictional prerequisite to a federal
court's authority to deprive an accused of his life
or liberty. When this right is properly waived,
the assistance of counsel is no longer a necessary
element of the court's jurisdiction to proceed to
conviction and sentence. If the accused, however,
is not represented by counsel and has not competently
and intelligently waived his constitutional right,
the Sixth Amendment stands as a jurisdictional bar
to a valid conviction and sentence depriving him
of his life or his liberty. A court's jurisdiction
at the beginning of trial may be lost "in the
course of the proceedings" due to failure to
complete the court -- as the Sixth Amendment requires
-- by providing counsel for an accused who is unable
to obtain counsel, who has not intelligently waived
this constitutional guaranty, and whose life or
liberty is at stake. If this requirement of the
Sixth Amendment is not complied with, the court
no longer has jurisdiction to proceed. The judgment
of conviction pronounced by a court without jurisdiction
is void, and one imprisoned thereunder may obtain
release by habeas corpus. A judge of the
United States -- to whom a petition for habeas corpus
is addressed -- should be alert to examine "the
facts for himself when if true as alleged they make
the trial absolutely void." See Johnson
v. Zerbst, 304 US 458, 467-68 (1938).
The
standard for rights to counsel under the Sixth Amendment
set forth in Johnson v. Zerbst, Id.,
is the benchmark for determining claims of deprivations
of such right. See Stewart v. Lagrand, 526
US 115, 119 (1999); College Savings Bank v. Florida
Prepaid Educ. Exp. Bd., 527 US 666, 682 (1999);
U.S. v. Mezzanatto, 513 US 196, 201 (1995);
Custis v. U.S., 511 US 485, 490, 494-95 (1994);
Davis v. United States, 512 US 452, 469-70
(1994); U.S. v. Olano, 507 US 725, 733 (1993);
Godinez v. Moran, 509 US 389, 396, 401 (1993);
Patterson v. Illinois, 487 US 285, 292 (1988);
Connecticut v. Barrett, 479 US 523, 531 (1987);
Murray v. Carrier, 477 US 478 (1986); Kimmelman
v. Morrison, 477 US 365 (1986); Michigan
v. Jackson, 475 US 625, 633 (1986); Moran
v. Burbine, 475 US 412, 421 (1986); Maine
v. Moulton, 474 US 159, 169 (1985); Evitts
v. Lucey, 469 US 387, 394 (1985); US v. Gouveia,
467 US 180, 188-89 (1984); Strickland v. Washington,
466 US 668, 684-85 (1984); Solem v. Stumes,
465 US 638, 647 (1984); Rushen v. Spain,
464 US 114, 128, and fn.7 (1983); Edwards v. Arizona,
451 US 477-78 (1981); US v. Morrison, 449
US 361, 364 (1981); Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446
US 335, 343 (1980).
“What
suffices for waiver depends on the nature of the
right at issue.
[W]hether
the defendant must participate personally in the
waiver, whether certain procedures are required
for waiver, and whether the defendant's choice
must be particularly informed or voluntary, all
depend on the right at stake.
United
States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 733 (1993).
For certain fundamental rights, the
defendant must personally make an informed waiver.
See, e.g., Johnson v. Zerbst,
304 U.S. 458, 464-465 (1938) (right to counsel);
Brookhart v. Janis, 384 U.S. 1, 7-8 (1966)
(right to plead not guilty). For other rights, however,
waiver may be effected by action of counsel.”
See
New York v. Hill, 528 US 110, 114 (2000).
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