Court Opinion

ID: 9631896
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:54:44.066501+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:08:03.387689
License: Public Domain

*1212PREGERSON, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
It is a universal truth that an indigent criminal defendant “requires the guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings against him.” Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 345, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Lary James Plumlee, an indigent criminal defendant, was indicted for armed robbery and murder, and desperately “require[d] the guiding hand of counsel.” But because Plum-lee’s relationship with his Washoe County public defender had been seriously compromised and because the Nevada trial judge refused to appoint new counsel, his only choice was to represent himself. Proceeding pro se, Plumlee was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison. The refusal of the Nevada courts to grant Plumlee’s habeas petition in these circumstances violates clearly established Sixth Amendment Supreme Court jurisprudence. Thus, I dissent.
I wholeheartedly agree with the opinion rendered by the three-judge panel in this case, an opinion which was vacated when this case was taken en banc. See Plumlee v. Del Papa, 465 F.3d 910 (9th Cir.2006) (vacated). The Supreme Court has held that an indigent criminal defendant is entitled to an attorney who “function[s] in the active role of an advocate.” Entsminger v. Iowa, 386 U.S. 748, 751, 87 S.Ct. 1402, 18 L.Ed.2d 501 (1967); see also Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 743, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). The Court has also explained that the Sixth Amendment “requires not merely the provision of counsel to the [indigent] accused, but Assistance,’ which is to be ‘for his defence.’ ” United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 654, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984).
Nevada did not provide Plumlee with an attorney who could function in the active role of an advocate. Here, as the trial judge found, Plumlee had good reason to believe that his representation by the Public Defender’s Office was tainted by a conflict of interest. His relationship with his public defenders had deteriorated to the point that Plumlee believed that being represented by the Public Defender’s Office was worse than having no representation at all. This unhappy situation was recognized by his public defender, who explained that Plumlee was “unable to establish an attorney/client relationship with me or any of my colleagues in the Public Defender’s office” and that having the Public Defender’s Office as stand-by counsel “in effect, gives him no stand-by counsel.” Judge Lane, the trial judge, made clear that while he did not believe the public defender’s office had betrayed Plumlee, he nonetheless believed that Plumlee’s distrust was reasonable. During the evidentiary hearing on state habe-as, Judge Lane noted that “it is clear Mr. Plumlee didn’t trust, didn’t like or trust the Public Defender’s Office for reason. And based upon certainly where he was sitting, I can’t disagree he had a right to feel that” and that “I can understand why Mr. Plumlee felt like he did. I doggone sure can.”
The majority’s reliance on Morris v. Sloppy, 461 U.S. 1, 103 S.Ct. 1610, 75 L.Ed.2d 610 (1983), is misplaced. In Sloppy, the defendant challenged the trial court’s refusal to grant him a continuance so that his preferred lawyer could represent him. The Supreme Court rejected the argument that a defendant had a right to a “meaningful relationship” with his attorney. Here, Plumlee did not argue that he was entitled to be represented by any one particular lawyer. Instead, Plumlee simply wanted any lawyer who could function as an effective advocate. The Supreme Court confirmed this distinction in Wheat v. United States, 486 U.S. 153, 159, 108 S.Ct. 1692, 100 L.Ed.2d 140 (1988), *1213explaining that “the essential aim of the [Sixth] Amendment is to guarantee an effective advocate for each criminal defendant rather than to ensure that a defendant will inexorably be represented by the lawyer whom he prefers.” (citations omitted). Where a criminal defendant has a reasonable, good-faith justification for being unable to work with an appointed lawyer, the Sixth Amendment requires that the court appoint a lawyer who can develop a functioning attorney-client relationship with the indigent defendant.
The majority concludes that Judge Lane’s findings that the Public Defender’s Office did not betray Plumlee, despite appearances to the contrary, resolve the issue. Judge Lane’s findings do not, however, change the fact that Plumlee’s relationship with the Public Defender’s Office had deteriorated to the point that he had no attorney functioning in the role of an advocate, in violation of the Sixth Amendment. Accordingly, I dissent.