Opinion ID: 2601941
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: paid counsel

Text: ¶ 14 We agree with Ford that in a post-conviction proceeding, when an indigent defendant has succeeded in a vacatur of his or her conviction, and the State chooses to appeal that vacatur, the defendant should be entitled to the assistance of paid counsel on appeal pursuant to the Indigent Defense Act, the Utah Constitution, and the United States Constitution.
¶ 15 The Indigent Defense Act requires that legal counsel be provided for each indigent who faces the substantial probability of the deprivation of the indigent's liberty. Utah Code Ann. § 77-32-301(1) (2003). For the constitutional reasons explained below, we agree with Ford that the State's appeal after Ford received post-conviction relief created a substantial probability of the deprivation of [Ford's] liberty. We also agree with Ford that the Post Conviction Remedies Act does not conflict with the Indigent Defense Act. Cf. Utah Code Ann. § 78B-9-109 (2008), with Utah Code Ann. § 77-32-301(1) (2003). The Post Conviction Remedies Act provides that a court may appoint counsel on a pro bono basis to represent defendants on post-conviction petitions for relief. Id. § 78B-9-109(1). The Act indicates such appointment should occur at the request of the petitioner, and where an evidentiary hearing would be required or the petition involves complicated issues of law or fact that require the assistance of counsel for proper adjudication. Id. § 78B-9-109(2). Ford is no longer petitioning for post-conviction relief. He has already been granted such relief. Ford is now defending his grant of post-conviction relief against the State's appeal. Ford is defending his liberty interest and is therefore entitled to counsel under the Indigent Defense Act.
¶ 16 Article I, section 7 of the Utah Constitution provides, No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law. Article I, section 12 gives the accused the right to counsel. In State v. Eichler, 25 Utah 2d 421, 483 P.2d 887, 889 (1971), this court held that impecunious defendants were entitled to court-appointed counsel at probation revocation hearings. We stated: It is in accordance with the assurance of the Utah State Constitution that an accused be provided with the assistance of counsel at every important stage of the proceedings against him. Inasmuch as ... a hearing involves the possibility of changing the defendant's status from one of being at liberty to one of being in confinement, it does no particular violence to one's sense of justice that it be regarded as an important stage of the proceeding against him at which he should have the assistance of counsel if he so desires. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). It does not matter whether a successful post-conviction petitioner is actually released from prison. If a court has granted a release, a defendant is entitled to counsel if the State attempts to chang[e] the defendant's status as to that relief by any means, including pursuing an appeal or bringing a new proceeding in district court. ¶ 17 The State's appeal seeking reversal of the district court's vacatur of Ford's conviction is the equivalent of an effort to chang[e Ford's] status from one of being at liberty to one of being in confinement, and Ford is entitled to counsel in defending against the State's appeal.
¶ 18 The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that individuals accused of crimes have the right to counsel. U.S. Const. amend. VI. The Fourteenth Amendment due process and equal protection clauses provide that individuals who cannot afford an attorney can have one appointed for them. U.S. Const. amend. XIV; see also Douglas v. California, 372 U.S. 353, 356-57, 83 S.Ct. 814, 9 L.Ed.2d 811 (1963) (holding that defendants have a right to counsel on appeal). There is also a fundamental liberty interest that triggers the right to counsel. See Walker v. McLain, 768 F.2d 1181, 1183 (10th Cir.1985) (It is the defendant's interest in personal freedom, and not simply the special sixth and fourteenth amendment right to counsel in criminal cases, which triggers the right to appointed counsel. (citing Lassiter v. Dep't of Soc. Servs. of Durham County, 452 U.S. 18, 25, 101 S.Ct. 2153, 68 L.Ed.2d 640 (1981))). ¶ 19 Ford has not argued that a right to counsel exists for defendants seeking discretionary post-conviction relief. We hold, however, that defendants who have been successful in obtaining a vacatur of their convictions have both a liberty and due process interest in their prospective freedom, and if the State chooses to pursue an appeal, the right to counsel does attach. In Blankenship v. Johnson, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the circumstances of a defendant who was convicted of aggravated robbery, acquitted on direct appeal, but then arrested again after the State obtained a reversal of the acquittal on a petition for discretionary review. 118 F.3d 312, 314-15 (5th Cir.1997). The Blankenship court held: For many years, the courts have held that indigent criminal defendants have the right to appointed counsel in direct appeals. This right arises from the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. This right would be impaired, however, if the state were allowed to challenge the defendant's successful direct appeal without providing him with counsel after a discretionary appeal is granted to the state. The indigent criminal defendant, unrepresented by counsel, would be unable to defend the reversal of his conviction in all but the most compelling cases. Id. at 317. We find the reasoning of the Fifth Circuit persuasive. We also agree with the Tenth Circuit, which has observed that [i]t would be absurd to distinguish criminal and civil incarceration; from the perspective of the person incarcerated, the jail is just as bleak no matter which label is used.... The right to counsel, as an aspect of due process, turns not on whether a proceeding may be characterized as `criminal' or `civil,' but on whether the proceeding may result in a deprivation of liberty. Walker, 768 F.2d at 1183. ¶ 20 Ford has a right to counsel under the United States Constitution to defend against the State's appeal.