Opinion ID: 2615564
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to communicate with McNelton

Text: McNelton argued in the district court, in support of another argument, that he never once spoke with his appellate attorney. The district court did not specifically address this issue because it was not raised as a separate issue in the petition. McNelton raises it here, however, arguing that his appellate counsel was ineffective because counsel failed to consult with McNelton as he crafted arguments on direct appeal. McNelton argues that counsel's performance was deficient per se. The record does not belie McNelton's contention that his appellate counsel did not meet or speak with him. In July and again in August 1994, appellate counsel filed in this court a motion to withdraw based on a letter from McNelton stating that appellate counsel did not answer McNelton's letters, visit him, or take his telephone calls. This court denied the motion, concluding that McNelton's letter did not constitute good cause for appellate counsel to seek appointment of a substitute. Appellate counsel did not thereafter seek to withdraw. We conclude that appellate counsel should have met or spoken with McNelton to discuss his direct appeal. This court has held that failure to communicate with a client warrants disciplinary action. See State Bar of Nevada v. Schreiber, 98 Nev. 464, 464, 653 P.2d 151, 151 (1982) (published letter of reprimand stating that communication with a client is, in many respects, at the center of all services). Although the circumstances in Schreiber are different from those presented here, the ideas expressed there regarding communication are always applicable. However, even assuming that counsel's performance was deficient because he failed to meet with McNelton, we conclude that McNelton was not prejudiced thereby. There is not a reasonable probability that the result of the direct appeal would have been different had McNelton consulted with his counsel with respect to how to proceed. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052. McNelton has not specified here any issues that he would have instructed appellate counsel to raise that counsel neglected to raise. Cf. Stewart v. Warden, 92 Nev. 588, 555 P.2d 218 (1976) (holding that where attorney failed to raise requested claims on appeal for no apparent reason, good cause exists to raise those claims on post-conviction). Accordingly, we conclude that counsel was not ineffective on this ground.