Court Opinion

ID: 9799466
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 07:11:09.786231+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:37.436292
License: Public Domain

Robinson, J.
¶ 1. Petitioner’s attorney Michael Rose has filed a motion for leave to withdraw. This case calls upon us to apply 13 V.S.A. § 5233 as interpreted in In re Bailey, 2009 VT 122, 187 Vt. 176, 992 A.2d 276.
¶ 2. Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) in the superior court, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel in his underlying criminal case because his lawyers induced him to reject a plea bargain for a much lower sentence “by misrepresenting the potential maximum sentencing exposure petitioner was facing at trial.” He went on to allege that his counsel told him that he faced a maximum exposure at trial of twenty-five years, essentially the maximum in the plea bargain offer, but he was sentenced to a maximum sentence of eighty-five years.
¶ 3. The superior court appointed a lawyer from the Prisoners’ Rights Office of the Defender General to represent petitioner in that court. The appointed public defender accepted representation and proceeded to represent petitioner throughout the trial court proceeding.
¶ 4. The State moved to dismiss the petition under 13 V.S.A. § 7134 because it was “a second or successive motion for similar relief on behalf of the same prisoner.” The public defender answered that the case did not fit within the statute because the theory on which this petition was based had not been raised in earlier PCR petitions because it was not available at the time of the earlier petitions. The State responded that the theory had always been available, and the Supreme Court precedent on which petitioner relied, Lafler v. Cooper, _ U.S. _, 132 S. Ct. 1376 (2012), did not establish any new rights or state a new constitutional rule.
¶ 5. The superior court agreed and granted summary judgment for the State. Shortly thereafter, the public defender filed a notice of appeal on petitioner’s behalf. The public defender filed a docketing statement in this Court, although conflict counsel then entered a notice of appearance. In a letter to petitioner, filed in this Court by petitioner, the public defender said she initially thought there were no grounds for appeal, but then said “I changed my opinion and filed a notice of appeal for you.” She added, however, that since filing the notice of appeal she discov*264ered the Defender General’s office had a conflict of interest so the case had been assigned to conflict counsel.
¶ 6. The first assigned conflict counsel withdrew because her firm had done a merits review for the Defender General on petitioner’s ineffeetive-assistance-of-counsel claim in connection with a prior PCR action. Counsel concluded that the firm’s prior negative merits review created a conflict of interest. The case was then assigned to attorney Michael Rose.
¶ 7. Attorney Rose filed a motion for leave to withdraw, citing Vermont Rule of Professional Conduct 3.1 and Bailey. Because it became clear during the argument on that motion that the Defender General had not gone through the procedure it typically goes through before seeking leave to withdraw on the basis cited by Attorney Rose, we invited the Defender General to present its position on the motion. The Defender General responded with a letter representing that an attorney retained to review petitioner’s case agreed with the Defender General’s determination that the appeal issues “lack merit.” The Defender General further represented that continued representation of petitioner would constitute a violation of the Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct and the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure, and accordingly declined assignment pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 5233.
¶ 8. Petitioner makes several arguments on appeal, some of which are directly germane to Attorney Rose’s motion, and some of which are more tangentially related. First, he argues that the counsel who reviewed the case for the Defender General did an inadequate review. Petitioner does not deny that the legal theory upon which his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim was based — that counsel was ineffective in the context of advising him concerning a plea agreement — was available in Vermont at the time of his prior PCR claims. See State v. Bristol, 159 Vt. 334, 337, 618 A.2d 1290, 1292 (1992) (“Because the plea bargain stage is critical to a criminal proceeding, fundamental attorney error at that stage may invalidate a conviction.”). However, he argues that PCR counsel in his prior PCR claims were themselves ineffective and failed to raise the claim, so that barring him from raising the claim in a successive petition is improper here. See Martinez v. Ryan,_U.S._,_, 132 S. Ct. 1309, 1315 (2012) (“Inadequate assistance of counsel at initial-review collateral proceedings may establish cause for a prisoner’s procedural default of a claim of ineffective assistance at trial.”). He also argues that insofar as the *265Defender General’s office has a conflict in his case, an independent attorney retained by the Defender General likewise is conflicted. Finally, petitioner argues that we should apply a pre-2004 version of 13 V.S.A. § 5233 in evaluating counsel’s motion. We consider these arguments in the context of our review of counsel’s motion.
¶ 9.  A convicted offender has no constitutional right to state-funded counsel in an appeal from a trial court judgment in a PCR case. See Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 755 (1991). We emphasize the limitation of this principle to an appeal of a judgment in a collateral proceeding because the U.S. Supreme Court has expressly left open the question of whether a prisoner has a right to effective counsel in collateral proceedings which provide the first occasion to raise a claim of ineffective assistance at trial. See Martinez, _ U.S. at _, 132 S. Ct. at 1315 (recognizing that the issue remained unresolved, and declining to reach it); Coleman, 501 U.S. at 755 (declining to decide whether there is a constitutional right to counsel “in those cases where state collateral review is the first place a prisoner can present a challenge to [a] conviction.”); see also State v. Lund, 168 Vt. 102, 105, 718 A.2d 413, 415 (1998) (stating that issues relating to conduct of counsel confined to post-conviction proceedings when record of trial proceedings insufficient to assess adequacy of representation).
¶ 10.  Vermont law does, however, provide a statutory right to state-funded counsel in a PCR proceeding. See 13 V.S.A. § 5233. Previously, the statutory right to counsel was available without reference to the merits of the claims raised in the PCR petition. See In re Gould, 2004 VT 46, ¶¶ 13-22, 177 Vt. 7, 852 A.2d 632. However, in 2004, the Legislature amended the statute to define the statutory right to state-funded counsel as a right:
[t]o be represented in any other postconviction proceeding which may have more than a minimal effect on the length or conditions of detention where the attorney considers the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions to be warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law.
2003, No. 157 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, codified at 13 V.S.A. § 5233.
¶ 11. This Court considered the impact of the statutory amendment on the right to state-funded counsel in the case of Bailey. *2662009 VT 122, ¶¶ 11-15. In that case, the trial court denied petitioner Bailey’s PCR petition, and he filed a pro se notice of appeal. On appeal, pursuant to Bailey’s request for counsel and this Court’s referral, Attorney Fulcher was assigned by the Defender General’s office as conflict counsel. Attorney Fulcher subsequently moved to withdraw, asserting that she could not continue to represent petitioner in light of Vermont Rule of Professional Conduct 3.1 (“A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law.”) and Rule 3.3 (“A lawyer shall not knowingly . . . make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal . . . .”). She also cited 13 V.S.A. § 5233. A single justice issued an entry order requiring counsel to submit the equivalent of an Anders brief supporting her claim. Id. ¶ 4; Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). Counsel sought review from the full Court.
¶ 12.  The immediate issue before the Court was whether the order to file an Anders brief was appropriate. The Court reasoned that the procedures required by the U.S. Supreme Court in Anders were designed to protect the underlying constitutional right to counsel. Because a petitioner has no constitutional right to counsel in civil PCR proceedings, the Court concluded that “[a]n Anders-type explanation justifying counsel’s withdrawal is not required in the PCR context.”1 Bailey, 2009 VT 122, ¶ 9. The Court concluded that the plain language of the statute provided “that counsel must decide when state-funded legal representation is warranted in a post-conviction proceeding” without “second-guessing by courts.” Id. ¶ 11. The Court thus held:
[W]hen counsel avers to this Court that the “claims, defenses, and other legal contentions” presented in a PCR *267are not “warranted by existing law or nonfrivolous argument,” counsel may withdraw, and the state’s obligation to petitioner is fulfilled, under the statute. Counsel’s representation to the court that he or she cannot ethically advocate her client’s position, particularly when confirmed by the Defender’s review, satisfies the statute.
Id. ¶ 12; see also id. ¶ 20 (“The attorney does not need this Court’s permission to determine whether to represent his or her client, and the statute does not require us to review the substance of counsel’s decision. A ruling on the motion to withdraw does not require us to inquire as to the merits of the case at all. It simply recognizes that the Legislature has left it to the attorney to decide which PCR cases to pursue, not this Court.”). We note that Bailey dealt first and foremost with the limits on the statutory right to publicly funded counsel. We were not concerned in that case with the standard applicable to a motion for leave to withdraw filed by private counsel that does not implicate the public fisc or the requirements of 13 V.S.A. § 5233. To the extent that the dissent suggests that a public defender’s ability to withdraw pursuant to § 5233 is distinct from the Defender General’s obligation to fund counsel for a PCR client, that position is not supported by the statute or the holding in Bailey.
¶ 13.  The Court qualified its holding by noting that a petitioner was free to pursue an appeal without legal representation, and stating that “if it appears to the trial court during pretrial proceedings that there may be substance and merit to a petition, the court may reappoint counsel to reevaluate the case accordingly.” Id. ¶ 14.2 This caveat — that the court may refer a case back to the Defender General for reevaluation if it concludes that a petitioner raises nonfrivolous claims — applies with equal force in this Court of appeal.
¶ 14. We expressly declined to address one issue in Bailey. As noted above, the Bailey Court was reassured in its holding by its understanding of the Defender General’s process for reviewing cases for frivolity. Id. ¶ 12. In particular, this Court understood *268that process to include “an initial review of the record and file by two attorneys, and if neither can find a meritorious claim, a review of these materials by a third attorney.” Id. ¶ 5. See also C. Martin, Response to the Bailey Decision, 36 Vt. B.J. 20 (Spring 2010) (describing review process in detail). The Court expressly noted that the adequacy of that process was not challenged in Bailey and specifically stated that its decision did not address the validity of the Defender General’s screening process. 2009 VT 122, ¶¶ 5, 9. Beyond affirming that such a review has taken place, or responding to a colorable constitutional challenge, it is difficult to discern what we would be looking for in a deeper review of the process.
¶ 15.  With this background in mind, we turn to the issues before us in connection with this motion. Petitioner argues that his case should fall under the pre-amendment version of 13 V.S.A. § 5233, whereby the right to assigned counsel vests, regardless of counsel’s assessment of the merits of the case. In order for the pre-amendment version of the statute to apply, petitioner must have filed this PCR petition prior to the 2004 amendment date. See In re Crannell, 2012 VT 85, ¶ 6, 192 Vt. 406, 60 A.3d 632. Petitioner filed his current PCR petition in 2012. Although he contends this PCR petition “comes from . . . PCR proceedings beginning] in 1995,” the current PCR petition is a new proceeding, which originated well after the statute’s amendment. Accordingly, 13 V.S.A. § 5233, as amended in 2004, applies.
¶ 16.  As noted above, our role in reviewing motions to withdraw pursuant to § 5233 is limited. To the extent that the Defender General seeks to deny publicly funded counsel, we can ask the Defender General for reassurance that the case has undergone the multi-step review referenced in Bailey. In this case, we infer from the Defender General’s letter to the Court that petitioner’s case has been the subject of multiple attorney reviews. This conclusion is buttressed by the documents provided directly to this Court by petitioner himself, including letters from two different lawyers.
¶ 17. We next consider whether the standard applied by counsel satisfies the requirements of the statute. Attorney Rose’s motion to this Court expressly states his view that continuing his representation of petitioner is precluded by the requirements of V.R.Pr.C. 3.1 (“A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or *269assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law”). The Defender General asserted that petitioner’s claims “lack merit,” but further stated that continued representation of petitioner would constitute a violation of Vermont’s professional conduct and civil procedure rules.
¶ 18.  We need not decide whether an assertion that a case “lacks merit” would, on its own, be sufficient to support a motion for leave to withdraw publicly funded counsel pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 5233. See In re S.C., 2014 VT 7, ¶ 8, 195 Vt. 415, 88 A.3d 1220 (per curiam) (“[T]he assertion of a claim that an attorney believes to be without merit or lacking in any meaningful chance of success does not render an appeal ‘frivolous’ or unethical.”). In this case, the Defender General stated that continued representation of petitioner would constitute a violation of professional conduct rules and the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure. Although the Defender General did not specify which professional conduct and civil procedure rules would be implicated by its continued representation of petitioner, we infer from the circumstances of this case, including letters from counsel to petitioner forwarded to this Court by petitioner, that the Defender General was referencing Rule of Professional Conduct 3.1 and Civil Rule 11(b)(2) (stating that attorney or unrepresented party who files pleadings with court is certifying that to the best of the person’s knowledge, information and belief, after reasonable inquiry, “the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions therein are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law”). The standard in 13 V.S.A. § 5233 allows the Defender General to deny publicly funded representation in cases in which that representation would violate Rule of Professional Conduct 3.1 and Civil Rule 11(b)(2), which is what the Defender General asserts here.
¶ 19.  Finally, we reject petitioner’s argument that Attorney Rose, as conflict counsel pursuant to a contract with the Defender General, has a conflict because the Defender General has a conflict. The Defender General’s conflicts are not imputed to outside counsel who contract with the Defender General to provide representation for qualifying clients. The whole point of *270“conflict counsel” is to provide state-funded legal representation , by a lawyer who is not part of the Defender General’s office. Cf. V.R.Pr.C. 1.10 (imputing conflicts within a firm).
¶ 20. In light of the above analysis, we grant Attorney Rose’s motion for leave to withdraw, and we will not appoint new publicly funded counsel.3 We reiterate our caveat in Bailey: If further review by this Court of petitioner’s claims leads us to conclude that the claims have merit that was apparently unrecognized by the Defender General, we may reassign the case to the Defender General for reevaluation. 2009 VT 122, ¶ 14.

Attorney Michael Rose’s motion for leave to withdraw is granted and new state-funded counsel will not be appointed. Petitioner, or other counsel on his behalf, shall file his brief and printed case within forty-five days of this order.

 Bailey involved a claimed right to counsel on appeal from a judgment in a PCR proceeding. We need not consider whether this holding extends to an initial PCR action in the trial court. Insofar as our holding in Bailey rested heavily on the fact that there is no constitutional right to counsel in a PCR appeal, and given the uncertainty as to whether there is such a right, at least in some cases, in connection with certain initial PCR proceeding before the superior court, we leave that question for another day. See Martinez,_U.S. at_, 132 S. Ct. at 1315 (declining to resolve whether an exception to the rule that there is no right to counsel in collateral proceedings “exists as a constitutional matter”).

 This reference to a trial court's discretion to refer a case back to the Defender General for reevaluation assumes that the constitution permits the withdrawal of publicly funded counsel in an initial PCR proceeding in the first instance; for the reasons noted above, we need not address the continuing validity of this assumption in light of Martinez v. Ryan, _U.S. at_, 132 S. Ct. 1309 (2012).

 While this motion was pending, petitioner filed various other motions with this Court. In February 2014, petitioner filed a motion captioned as a motion for the writ of error coram nobis, which he later withdrew. Petitioner has also filed a “Motion for Included Information” containing additional discussion of his request for conflict-free counsel. Lastly, petitioner has filed a motion requesting habeas corpus relief. To the extent that these motions address petitioner’s request for state-funded, conflict-free counsel they are resolved by this opinion. Claims raised in his motion for habeas corpus relief that were also raised in his PCR petition may be addressed with the merits of his PCR appeal. Insofar as his motion requests habeas relief apart from the claims petitioner raised in his PCR petition, he should direct those claims to the superior court of the county where the sentence was imposed; the relief available in this Court is limited to appellate review of the questions raised in the PCR proceeding on appeal. 13 V.S.A. § 7136; In re Mason, 126 Vt. 122, 123, 223 A.2d 477, 477 (1966) (stating that this Court’s original jurisdiction over requests for post-conviction and habeas corpus relief “has been removed” and the relief available here is limited to appellate review).