Opinion ID: 2366001
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Incompetency of Counsel

Text: The defendant next attacks the judgment of conviction on the ground that his retained trial counsel was so incompetent that he was deprived of his state and federal constitutional right to the effective assistance of an attorney. Although we consider this claim to be more properly cognizable in post-conviction proceedings, we have not always abided by that sentiment, and in the past we have occasionally entertained a claim of lack of effective counsel on direct review. State v. Ambrosino, 114 R.I. 99, 105-406, 329 A.2d 398, 401-02 (1974); State v. Desroches, 110 R.I. 497, 502-06, 293 A.2d 913, 916-18 (1972); State v. Correia, 106 R.I. 655, 664-66, 262 A.2d 619, 624-25 (1970). However, in neither the Desroches nor the Correia case did the defendant claim that his attorney was incompetent. Desroches apparently based his claim on the trial court's action in granting his motion to dismiss the public defender and permitting him to defend himself; Correia objected to the trial justice's refusal to permit withdrawal from the case by an attorney who, by reason of Correia's own lack of cooperation, was not fully prepared for trial. In those instances, then, the appeals were based on specific rulings by the trial justices that allegedly deprived the defendants of the effective assistance of counsel. Our action in reviewing those rulings was therefore consistent with the fundamental principle that only specific rulings of a trial justice are reviewable on direct appeal. State v. Ambrosino, supra, 114 R.I. at 104-05 & n.2, 329 A.2d at 401 & n.2; State v. Wright, 105 R.I. 556, 564-65, 253 A.2d 593, 597-98 (1969); State v. Franklin, 103 R.I. 715, 728, 241 A.2d 219, 227 (1968); State v. Quattrocchi, 103 R.I. 115, 117-18, 235 A.2d 99, 101 (1967). In the present case, defendant does not claim that any specific ruling of the trial justice deprived him of the effective assistance of counsel. Rather, he objects to the manner in which his allegedly inexperienced counsel conducted his defense. For example, he claims that his attorney did not comprehend the technique of introducing prior inconsistent statements and that he did not effectively cross-examine the victim's husband. That some of these assertions might have merit in a postconviction proceeding where such matters are properly cognizable, however, does not mean that we will consider them on direct review in the absence of any ruling of the trial justice adversely affecting the defendant's rights. State v. Ambrosino, supra, 114 R.I. at 105, 329 A.2d at 401. The defendant therefore must raise this claim by means of a petition for postconviction relief. [6] State v. Ambrosino, id. 114 R.I. at 105-06, 329 A.2d at 401-02, to the extent that it differs, is hereby disapproved. [7]