Court Opinion

ID: 9684467
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:58:10.263451+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:56.093859
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion

SEILER, Judge.
I concur, with the reservation that I do not believe the burden is any greater on the defendant in a claim of violation of constitutional rights pertaining to effective assistance of counsel than it is in any other claim of violation of constitutional rights of a defendant in a criminal conviction. The question is whether the demands of due process were met — whether there was a denial of that fundamental fairness without which no conviction can stand. I agree that such did not occur in the present case. But if the statement in the opinion, “Furthermore, a convicted defendant who asserts that his attorney did not render adequate and effective legal assistance commensurate with constitutional standards has a heavy burden to sustain”, means there i to be some added burden placed on the defendant who asserts this particular constitutionally protected right, I respectfully state I do not believe this can constitutionally be done.1

. As the principal opinion shows, the quoted statement is based on Reid v. United States (C.A. 9th) 334 F.2d 915, 919. As I read the Reid opinion, it seems to me that the statement was not at all necessary to the decision. Under the facts there stated, the question whether defendant Reid was denied the right of competent counsel was not a close one.