Opinion ID: 712987
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Learned in the Law

Text: 23 Under 18 U.S.C. § 3005 as it existed at the time of Mr. McCullah's trial, 1 a capital defendant is entitled to counsel learned in the law. 18 U.S.C. § 3005 (1982). Mr. McCullah argues that the phrase learned in the law requires that counsel have prior capital punishment experience. We disagree. 24 The plain meaning of the phrase learned in the law refers to a person who has received a regular legal education, generally signified by admission to the bar. See Black's Law Dictionary 889 (6th ed. 1990). The plain meaning of the phrase does not imply any specialized death penalty experience. If Congress intended that counsel be learned in the law applicable to capital cases, it could have so stated, which it did when it amended the statute in 1994. See 18 U.S.C. § 3005. Despite Mr. McCullah's contention to the contrary, the 1994 amendment did not merely clarify the law but rather substantively changed it, creating a new requirement which previously had not existed. 25 Further evidence that the former § 3005's learned in the law requirement referred only to law generally is found in 21 U.S.C. § 848(q)(5). Under 21 U.S.C. § 848(q)(5), enacted in 1988, a capital defendant is entitled to at least one attorney who has been admitted to practice for at least five years and has at least three years' experience in the actual trial of felony prosecutions. Id. If the former § 3005's learned in the law requirement referred to capital punishment experience, as Mr. McCullah contends, Congress would hardly have created a special expertise requirement framed in terms of felony prosecutions in a later statute. 26 Mr. McCullah's counsel were both experienced public defenders who had been admitted to practice for ten years. While they may have lacked capital punishment experience, Mr. McCullah does not challenge their general practice or felony litigation credentials. We find that Mr. McCullah was properly represented by counsel learned in the law under the former Section 3005.