Right to Counsel
Right to Counsel
CJA/364
Right to Counsel
Having a Right to counsel is a privilege that should be an option to any citizen that has committed and arrested for a crime that they may or may not have committed. The Right to Counsel comes from the last part of the sixth amendment that states “to have the assistance of counsel for his defense”. In this essay the development of the right to counsel, when the right to council attaches to criminal procedures, the right to self-representation, and the role of an attorney as it is applied to the right to council will be discussed. Right to Counsel Historically, the right to counsel had meant that there was a right to have a retained counsel. This means that if a defendant could afford an attorney then they had a right to one, however, a poor defendant did not have this right ("Civics Library", 2006). The right to counsel had started in 1932 in the Supreme Court and had later been applied to the sixth amendment ("Right to Counsel", 2013). In 1932 a case consisting of Powell v. Alabama, the courts found that under certain types of circumstances that free counsel had to be provided to criminal defendants. The main topic of this case was that the defendant’s due process rights’ were violated because there was a denial of the right to counsel to the defendants (Zalman, 2011). Right to Counsel Attachments At a pretrial hearing, counsel is required if a lawyer plays a significant part of the case. If the arraignment is a simple case where there are no major decisions to be made then no attorney needs to represent the defendant (Zalman, 2011). If an accused person is questioned by the police then the right to counsel then becomes attached to help protect the accused’s rights against self-incrimination. The Fifth Amendment attaches the right to counsel when an investigation becomes accusatory and focus on a specific person. When a defendant becomes charged with
CJA/364
Right to Counsel
Having a Right to counsel is a privilege that should be an option to any citizen that has committed and arrested for a crime that they may or may not have committed. The Right to Counsel comes from the last part of the sixth amendment that states “to have the assistance of counsel for his defense”. In this essay the development of the right to counsel, when the right to council attaches to criminal procedures, the right to self-representation, and the role of an attorney as it is applied to the right to council will be discussed. Right to Counsel Historically, the right to counsel had meant that there was a right to have a retained counsel. This means that if a defendant could afford an attorney then they had a right to one, however, a poor defendant did not have this right ("Civics Library", 2006). The right to counsel had started in 1932 in the Supreme Court and had later been applied to the sixth amendment ("Right to Counsel", 2013). In 1932 a case consisting of Powell v. Alabama, the courts found that under certain types of circumstances that free counsel had to be provided to criminal defendants. The main topic of this case was that the defendant’s due process rights’ were violated because there was a denial of the right to counsel to the defendants (Zalman, 2011). Right to Counsel Attachments At a pretrial hearing, counsel is required if a lawyer plays a significant part of the case. If the arraignment is a simple case where there are no major decisions to be made then no attorney needs to represent the defendant (Zalman, 2011). If an accused person is questioned by the police then the right to counsel then becomes attached to help protect the accused’s rights against self-incrimination. The Fifth Amendment attaches the right to counsel when an investigation becomes accusatory and focus on a specific person. When a defendant becomes charged with
References: Civics Library. (2006). Retrieved from http://members.mobar.org/civics/CounselAssist.htm Right to Counsel. (2013). Retrieved from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/right+to+counsel Zalman, M. (2011). Criminal procedure: Constitution and society (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall .