Opinion ID: 1842580
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: effective appointed counsel

Text: In Smith v. Woodley, 164 N.W.2d 594, 597 (N.D.1969), a habeas corpus proceeding in which the petitioner alleged lack of effective assistance of counsel at his trial, we said: The books in the law libraries are replete with cases alleging incompetency or ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. These cases uniformly hold that the proof of the effectiveness of such assistance lies in the character of the resultant proceedings, and unless the purported representation by counsel was such as to make the trial a farce and mockery of justice, mere allegations of incompetent or ineffective counsel ordinarily will not suffice as grounds for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus or for the reversal of a conviction. . . . A lack of effective assistance of counsel must be such as to shock the conscience of the court and make the proceedings a farce and mockery of justice. Diggs v. Welch, 80 U.S.App.D.C. 5, 148 F.2d 667 (1945), cert. denied 325 U.S. 889, 65 S. Ct. 1576, 89 L.Ed. 2002; State v. Keller, 57 N.D. 645, 223 N.W. 698, 64 A.L.R. 434 (1929).  In light of our holding in this case requiring reversal, it is not necessary for us to rule on effectiveness of counsel. However, for the guidance of trial judges and the Bar, we note that the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Beasley v. United States, 491 F.2d 687 (1974), recently abandoned the farce and mockery test and said, at page 693: Most recently, in McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d 763 (1970), the Supreme Court stated that `It has long been recognized that the right to counsel is the right to the effective assistance of counsel.' It held that the advice rendered by an attorney as to whether a confession would be admissible in evidence must be `within the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases.' 397 U.S. at 771, 90 S.Ct. at 1449. `[I]f the right to counsel guaranteed by the Constitution is to serve its purpose, defendants cannot be left to the mercies of incompetent counsel, and . . . judges should strive to maintain proper standards of performance by attorneys who are representing defendants in criminal cases in their courts.' 397 U.S. at 771, 90 S.Ct. at 1449. In view of the Supreme Court's holdings, we must agree with the Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and District of Columbia Circuits, that the `farce and mockery' test should be abandoned as a meaningful standard for testing Sixth Amendment claims. West v. Louisiana, 478 F.2d 1026 (5th Cir. 1973); Bruce v. United States, 126 U.S.App.D.C. 336, 379 F.2d 113 (1967). As to other issues raised by the appellant and denominated by us as Issues Numbers 4, 6, and 7, we find that they are not reviewable since they are subject to the general rule that matters not brought to the attention of the trial court are not subject to our review. As to Issue Number 5, which issue was preserved for review, we find that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in ruling that testimony as to the defendant's impecunious state, approximately eleven days before the date of the offense, was relevant. Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. ERICKSTAD, C. J., and JOHNSON, VOGEL and KNUDSON, JJ., concur.