Case Studies
Chapter 8: Right to Counsel
Case 1
Officer Smithwick arrested Robert Smith, a homeless man from Sometown, for assault with a deadly weapon, a felony. According to the victim and eyewitnesses, Smith picked up a rusted pipe and beat Steven Crane with it, accusing him of stealing his blanket and coat. Crane sustained serious injuries, but was expected to fully recover. In describing the crime, eyewitnesses said that Smith appeared to be highly intoxicated at the time of the offense.
After he was arrested, Smith was taken to Sometown Police Station. Smith was intoxicated enough to not be able to walk on his own, so Officer Smithwick booked him and then placed him in a holding cell until he sobered up. The next day, he was taken to an interrogation room and advised of his rights. Now sober, Smith realized the seriousness of the charges he faced, and he expressed a desire to have a lawyer. Until then, he wished to remain silent. He was returned to a holding cell until his arraignment that afternoon at Sometown District Court.
Robert Smith was taken to Sometown District Court to be arraigned. When his case was called, he was joined by a public defender named George Frazer. Attorney Frazer entered a plea of “not guilty” on behalf of his client. A trial date was set. Attorney Frazer told Smith that he would meet with him the following week to discuss his case and instructed him not to talk to the police in the meantime. Robert Smith was then transferred to county jail where he would await his trial.
Questions
Case 2
Jane Point had been charged with assault. She was arrested two weeks ago in the Sometown Pub after attacking two patrons. According to witnesses and video footage, Point had started a fight after a bartender refused to serve her. Point had yelled at the bartender, and when a patron told her to be quiet, she hit him over the head with a glass, knocking him unconscious. The patron’s friend stepped forward to help him, and Point jumped on his back and pulled his hair and bit his ear.
At her arraignment, she was represented by Jean Frazier. Several witnesses came forward the night and day after the incident to testify about Point’s actions that Saturday evening. In the time after the arraignment, five more witnesses had come forward to offer their stories.
Police had arranged to interview the witnesses, one at a time, on Tuesday. For the witnesses who had already come forward, police had verified their testimony with security footage from the Pub, and they planned to do the same with the new witnesses. The Sometown Pub holds about 50 people, and the security cameras set up behind the bar have the incident on film. Jane Point was not the most popular woman in town, and police were aware that some people might take advantage of the charges to get their revenge on her.
Police conducted the interviews at police headquarters. The assistant district attorney listened in as police questioned the witnesses as to their proximity to the fight and what they saw. Point and Attorney Frazier were not present at the interviews.
Questions
Case 3
Leon Keller was facing a charge of driving under the influence in Sometown. Police had pulled him over after he crossed the yellow line, and he had failed a field sobriety test. Tests confirmed his blood-alcohol levels were above the legal limit, and so he had been charged. This was the first time he had been arrested and charged with a crime.
Keller, a 50-year-old man with a strong distrust of the legal system, did not want to hire an attorney. Instead, he wished to defend himself. In his mind, he had a solid defense. Keller was a man of above-average intelligence, who did not suffer from mental illness. He had attended college, but did not graduate.
At his arraignment, he told Judge Jet that he wished to waive his right to counsel.
“Are you sure, Mr. Keller?” Judge Jet asked.
“Yes, Your Honor. I would like to defend myself against these charges.”
There was nothing to suggest that Leon Keller lacked the mental competence to defend himself. Judge Jet proceeded to give Keller a very stern warning about the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation. She asked him several questions about his education and then several more about any experience he had with the criminal justice system. Once Keller had answered her questions, she again asked him if he was absolutely sure of his decision. Keller answered that he was.
Judge Jet expressed her reservations but allowed Leon Keller to represent himself at trial. As a precaution, she appointed standby counsel.
Questions
Case 4
Jessica Simpson, an indigent defendant, had been charged with theft of merchandise from the Sometown Department Store, valued at $2,000. Eyewitnesses had placed her at the store and saw her leave with an expensive leather jacket, several designer scarves, and some jewelry. Video footage from the store showed her in the dressing room, putting on the jacket and draping herself with scarves and necklaces before walking back out onto the floor and then out the door. When questioned by police, she admitted to stealing the items, saying that she planned on selling them to get money for food. She was assigned a public defender and a date was set for her trial.
Her overworked public defender failed to show up for the two scheduled meetings with Simpson to discuss her case before the trial started. When the day arrived, Simpson’s counsel was 20 minutes late for the proceedings. She had with her a large cup of coffee, but when Simpson looked over at her attorney while the eyewitnesses were testifying, the public defender was sleeping. She did not question any of the prosecution’s witnesses, and the judge had to wake her up twice to ask her if she wished to cross-examine them. After the defense rested, the public defender called Simpson to the stand and asked her questions that played right into the prosecutor’s hands. On cross-examination, Simpson confessed to everything. The jury took less than a half an hour to return with a guilty verdict.
When a local advocacy group heard about Simpson’s case, it helped her to file an appeal.
Questions
Case 5
Rachel Hanger had been arrested and charged with cocaine distribution. Police had conducted a thorough investigation and had sufficient evidence to secure an arrest warrant. She had been arraigned and was awaiting trial in county jail. Representing her was Doris Hunt, a private attorney.
After criminal proceedings were already underway, a witness came forward in the case. His description of the drug dealer matched that of Rachel Hunt, but police wanted to confirm the identity, because this witness would strengthen their case. To do so, they wanted him to identify Hanger in a lineup before having him testify in court. Because the suspect said that he remembered Hunt’s voice clearly, they also wanted participants in the line up to say, “It will cost you.”
Police asked Hanger to appear for the lineup. Hanger requested Attorney Hunt’s presence at the lineup, and so police contacted Attorney Hanger and then waited for her to arrive. For the lineup, police have selected five other women who roughly match Hanger’s race, height, weight, and general appearance. As they were all inmates at the county jail, all of them were wearing prison uniforms.
Attorney Hunt arrived and joined the witness, the assistant district attorney, and a police officer in the viewing room. The women walked out and stood facing the glass. In turn, each of them stepped forward and spoke the phrase, “It will cost you.”
As soon as Hanger said the phrase, the witness said, “That’s her. That’s the woman I saw.”
The lineup was completed, and police used the witness’s testimony at trial.
Questions