Court Opinion

ID: 9687645
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 16:41:02.506154+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:29.197394
License: Public Domain

PARKER, Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent.
The sixth amendment provides: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right * * * to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.” U.S. Const, amend. VI.
“[Assistance of counsel is among those ‘constitutional rights so basic to a fair trial that their infraction can never be treated as harmless error.’ ” Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475, 490, 98 S.Ct. 1173, 1181-82, 55 L.Ed.2d 426 (1978) (quoting Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 23, 87 S.Ct. 824, 827-28, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967)).
Persuasive authority exists for the proposition that the sixth amendment guaran*735tee of counsel means representation by a licensed practitioner. Solina v. United, States, 709 F.2d 160, 167 (2d Cir.1983) (per se violation of the sixth amendment where the defendant in a criminal case receives representation from “someone not authorized to practice law in any state, and the lack of such authorization stemmed from failure to seek it or from its denial for a reason going to legal ability, such as a failure to pass a bar examination, or want of moral character”) (citing Huckelbury v. State, 337 So.2d 400 (Fla.App.1976)).
In an analogous case, the California Court of Appeals found a sixth amendment violation and vacated the defendant’s conviction where an attorney was placed on an “inactive” attorneys list prior to defendant’s trial pursuant to a state law provision directed toward attorneys who had become incompetent to represent clients. People v. Hinkley, 193 Cal.App.3d 383, 387, 238 Cal.Rptr. 272, 275 (1987).
Rule 16(e) of the Minnesota Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility (1990) authorizes automatic interim suspension when the referee recommends disbarment, unless the referee or the court directs otherwise:
(e) Interim Suspension. Upon a referee disbarment recommendation, the lawyer’s authority to practice law shall be suspended pending final determination of the disciplinary proceeding, unless the referee directs otherwise or the Court orders otherwise.
On July 31, 1989, the referee recommended that Isaacs be disbarred for his repeated and numerous professional violations. The referee did not direct, nor did the supreme court order, otherwise. Consequently, Isaacs was suspended from the practice of law as of July 31,1989. He was not authorized to practice law when his client’s trial began August 14, 1989.
Under such circumstances, when an attorney’s license is suspended for substantive reasons rather than for mere technicalities (e.g., not paying a license fee) and the attorney practices law while his license is suspended, a presumption must arise that the representation is inadequate. This presumption should be rebuttable by a two-part showing:
(1) that representation was in fact adequate; and
(2) the case against the client is strong.
Despite the trial court’s observation, the record indicates that Isaacs’ representation was inadequate. He did not investigate his client’s case adequately; he did not conduct reasonable discovery; he did not call any witnesses; he failed to object to the introduction of damaging evidence; he provided no argument on the significance of discrepancies in the testimony of state’s witnesses; and he did not reveal to his client that he (Isaacs) was under suspension. It appears doubtful that the state could make a showing of adequacy. It appears beyond question that Isaacs was distracted by his own problems.
The evidence against Smith seems meager. The prosecution depended on the credibility of a single witness, the case turning entirely on Sergeant Grates’ contention that he saw Smith drop the cocaine in a hallway of the apartment building. The theory of the defense was that the police pursued Smith as a pretext for a warrantless entry into a known “crack house.” Other potential owners of the cocaine were apparently present in the apartment, but Sergeant Grates failed to report their presence. Issacs did not, however, advise his client to testify. Thus, Sergeant Grates’ testimony was uncontroverted, though uncorroborated by other testimony.
Assistance of counsel is mandated by the sixth amendment because lawyers “are the means through which the other rights of the person on trial are secured” and through which the prosecution’s case is subjected to “meaningful adversarial testing.” United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 653, 654, 657, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 2043, 2044, 2046, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984). This testing appears to have been singularly absent in Smith’s defense.
“[Ajccess to counsel’s skill and knowledge is necessary to accord defendants the ‘ample opportunity to meet the case of the prosecution’ to which they are entitled.” *736Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 686, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Isaacs lent little, if any, skill or knowledge to his client. In light of both Isaacs’ omissions and the minimally sufficient evidence produced against Smith, Isaacs’ representation constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel.