Opinion ID: 772131
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sixth Amendment -- Right to Counsel

Text: 53 The right to counsel under the Sixth Amendmentattaches when adversary criminal proceedings are initiated against an individual by way of formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information, or arraignment.  United States v. Gouveia, 467 U.S. 180, 188 (1984). But there is no Sixth Amendment right to counsel at an extradition hearing. United States v. Harrison, 213 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2000) (describing an extradition hearing at which a public defender represented a defendant who did not challenge extradition as a non-critical stage for purposes of determining whether the right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment had attached) (citing Chewning v. Rogerson, 29 F.3d 418, 421-22 (8th Cir. 1994) (holding that extradition hearings are not critical stages during which a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches)); accord United States v. Doherty, 126 F.3d 769, 782 (6th Cir. 1997) (holding that the statutory right to counsel at an extradition hearing under the Uniform Crime Extradition Act does not trigger the Sixth Amendment right to counsel); Judd v. Vose, 813 F.2d 494, 497 (1st Cir. 1987) ([A]n extradition hearing has a `modest function' not involving the question of guilt or innocence, and is not a `criminal proceeding' within the meaning of the sixth amendment.); Caltagirone v. Grant, 629 F.2d 739, 748 n.19 (2d Cir. 1980) (The Sixth Amendment by its terms applies only to `criminal prosecutions,' and an extradition proceeding is not a `criminal prosecution.' ). 54 Here, plaintiffs allege that the Deputy Public Defender appointed to represent Kerry Sanders failed to provide him with adequate representation at the extradition hearing. 10 Because the Sixth Amendmentright to counsel does not attach at an extradition hearing, and because plaintiffs have alleged no other proceeding at which Kerry Sanders would have been entitled to counsel under the Sixth Amendment, we find that plaintiffs have failed to state a claim for violation of the Sixth Amendment. 55