In a recent 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court decided Trevina v. Thaler to extend a ruling it made last year which allowed prisoners to challenge
their state convictions in federal court based on the claim that their
attorneys were ineffective.
Last year, the Court considered a case out of Arizona which challenged
the state’s law saying that claims of ineffective assistance of
counsel had to be raised in a separate post-conviction motion and not
in a direct appeal of the original conviction. The problem with this approach
is that there is no right to an attorney in the post-conviction motion
phase, though there is in the direct appeal phase. The Supreme Court ruled
that federal courts are allowed to hear challenged to Arizona convictions
based on ineffective assistance if the defendant had no lawyer in the
separate post-conviction challenge.
The Supreme Court said in the Arizona case that by insisting that ineffective
assistance of counsel be claimed outside the appeals process where counsel
is constitutionally guaranteed, Arizona significantly diminished defendants’
ability to file such a claim.
The new case concerned the Texas criminal justice system which also encourages,
though does not require, that such ineffective assistance of counsel claims
be raised in separate proceedings and not as a part of a direct appeal.
The Supreme Court decided the distinction between Texas and Arizona was
unimportant and that the tradition was enough to deprive some defendants
of the chance to raise ineffective assistance claims. The Court said that
as a matter of practice, the Texas system does not offer most defendants
a meaningful chance to present a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel
on direct appeal.
Given the recent decision, it seems clear the Court is willing to go great
lengths to ensure that defendants have the opportunity to raise ineffective
assistance of counsel claims as part of the direct appeals process where
they are constitutionally ensured legal representation.
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