Court Opinion

ID: 9463515
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 23:09:19.925564+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:09.459370
License: Public Domain

*998JOHN R. BROWN, Chief Judge,
dissenting:
I dissent from the majority’s finding that the guilty plea was not vitiated by the inadequate assistance of Jones’ counsel. I would hold that this case is governed by Walker v. Caldwell, 5 Cir. 1973, 476 F.2d 213, where we reversed due to the failure of the court appointed counsel to give the defendant an opportunity to engage in any meaningful sort of defense. A mere recitation of constitutional rights to a defendant is not adequate representation of counsel, indeed, the Miranda warning accomplishes as much. The attorney in this case represented all four defendants and the record indicates that in only 20 to 30 minutes he advised them of their rights, and the elements of the offenses charged, discerned that not one of them had a defense and that the state’s case was not weak against any of them. It is just this sort of rubber stamp representation that Walker was meant to alleviate.