Scope of Right

Name: Hulbert v. Cross
Case #: C090663
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 3 DCA
Opinion Date: 06/11/2021
  • Categories: Areas Constitutional Law, Evidence, Expert Witness, Other, Right to Counsel, Scope of Right

In a medical malpractice action filed by an indigent inmate, the trial court denied the plaintiff meaningful access to the courts when it refused his motion for appointment of an expert. Hulbert, a self-represented indigent inmate, filed a medical malpractice…

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Name: Gardner v. Appellate Division of Superior Court
Case #: S246214
Court: CA Supreme Court
District CalSup
Opinion Date: 03/28/2019
  • Categories: Right to Counsel, Scope of Right

An indigent defendant respondent in a pretrial prosecution appeal is entitled to appointment of counsel. The trial court granted defendant's motion to suppress evidence (Pen. Code, § 1538.5) in a misdemeanor case, and dismissed the underlying complaint. The People appealed…

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Name: McCoy v. Louisiana
Case #: 16-8255
Court: US Supreme Court
District USSup
Opinion Date: 05/14/2018
Subsequent History: 138 S.Ct. 1500
  • Categories: Right to Counsel, Scope of Right

Trial counsel's admission that defendant killed three people, in an effort to avoid the death penalty, mandates reversal of defendant's convictions because he was denied the right to choose the objective of his defense in violation of the Sixth Amendment.…

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Name: Morris v. Superior Court of San Bernardino County
Case #: E066330
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 4 DCA
Division: 2
Opinion Date: 11/21/2017
  • Categories: Public Defenders, Right to Counsel, Scope of Right

Indigent respondent in misdemeanor appeal to the appellate division of the superior court is not entitled to appointed counsel. Petitioner Morris' office, the Public Defender of San Bernardino County, represented Lopez in a misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol…

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Name: Harris v. Superior Court (San Joaquin County)
Case #: C083669
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 3 DCA
Opinion Date: 08/09/2017
  • Categories: Appeals, Misdemeanor Appeals, Right to Counsel, Scope of Right

A restitution order is a "significant adverse collateral consequence" within the meaning of California Rules of Court, rule 8.851(a)(1)(A), requiring the appointment of counsel for an indigent defendant on appeal in a misdemeanor case. Harris pleaded no contest to a…

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Name: People v. Ramos
Case #: B248512
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 2 DCA
Division: 7
Opinion Date: 11/21/2016
  • Categories: Right to Counsel, Scope of Right, Self-Representation

Self-represented defendant's constitutional right to counsel was violated when the trial court removed him from the courtroom during trial without appointing standby counsel to represent him. While on trial for making criminal threats and other offenses, Ramos elected to represent…

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Name: United States v. Yamashiro
Case #: 12-50608
Court: US Court of Appeals
District 9 Cir
Opinion Date: 06/12/2015
  • Categories: Right to Counsel, Scope of Right

Trial court committed structural error when it allowed victim allocution to proceed when the defendant's attorney was not present. Yamashiro pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. At sentencing, he requested a substitution of counsel, which the district court…

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Name: People v. Velasco-Palacios
Case #: F068833
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 5 DCA
Opinion Date: 03/23/2015
  • Categories: By Prosecutor, Misconduct, Right to Counsel, Scope of Right

Dismissal of charges is appropriate remedy where a prosecutor falsified an interrogation transcript to include an admission by the defendant. Appellant was charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under the age of 14 (Pen. Code, § 288,…

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Name: Frost v. Boening
Case #: 11-35114
Court: US Court of Appeals
District 9 Cir
Opinion Date: 04/24/2014
  • Categories: Appeals, Areas Constitutional Law, Const./Statutory Reqmts, Due Process, Extraordinary Remedies, Habeas Corpus (Federal), Prejudice, Present a Defense, Review Principles, Right to Counsel, Scope of Right

Trial court's preclusion of inconsistent defenses during closing argument is structural constitutional error requiring reversal. Frost was convicted of five different robberies and given a 55-year prison term. He offered two defenses during opening argument: The prosecution failed to prove…

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Name: U.S. v. Botello-Rosales
Case #: 12-30074
Court: US Court of Appeals
District 9 Cir
Opinion Date: 07/15/2013
  • Categories: Areas Constitutional Law, Civil Rights, Right Against Self-incrim, Right to Counsel, Scope of Right

Denial of motion to suppress reversed where officer's translation of Miranda warning did not adequately convey to defendant his right to appointed counsel. Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to federal drug and weapons charges after his motion to suppress…

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