http://www.oyez.org/issues/civil-rights/indigents-appointment-counsel/ U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments, presented by The Oyez Project (www.oyez.org) en-us http://www.oyez.org/images/oyezfeed.jpg U.S. Supreme Court Audio Recordings, presented by The Oyez Project (www.oyez.org) Mon, 25 Apr 2005 12:00:00 -0500 <p>Halbert pleaded no contest in a Michigan court to two counts of criminal sexual conduct. The day after Halbert's sentence was imposed, Halbert moved to withdraw his plea. The trial court denied the motion and told Halbert the property remedy for his complaint was the state appellate court. Michigan required a defendant convicted on a guilty or no contest plea to apply for leave of appeal to the state appellate court. Halbert asked the trial court twice to appoint counsel to help him with his application. The trial court refused. Without counsel, Halbert still applied for leave to appeal, which the court of appeals denied. The state supreme court also denied Halbert's application for leave to appeal to that court.</p> <p>Did the due process and equal protection clauses require the appointment of counsel for defendants, convicted on their pleas, who sought access to a Michigan appellate court?</p> 03-10198_20050425-argument http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2004/2004_03_10198/argument/ supreme, court, oyez, rehnquist Tue, 28 Feb 1989 12:00:00 -0500 No details yet. No details yet. 87-1490_19890228-argument http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1988/1988_87_1490/argument/ supreme, court, oyez, rehnquist Wed, 22 Mar 1989 12:00:00 -0500 No details yet. No details yet. 88-411_19890322-argument http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1988/1988_88_411/argument/ supreme, court, oyez, rehnquist Mon, 02 Mar 1987 12:00:00 -0500 No details yet. No details yet. 85-2099_19870302-argument http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1986/1986_85_2099/argument/ supreme, court, oyez, rehnquist Tue, 05 Oct 1999 12:00:00 -0500 <p>A California state-court jury convicted Lee Robbins of second degree murder and grand theft auto. After the trial, in which Robbins defended himself, his appointed counsel on appeal concluded that an appeal would be frivolous. Under a new California procedure, established in People v. Wende, Robbins' counsel then filed with the California Court of Appeal to allow him to withdraw or to let the court dispose of the case by filing a brief that was silent on the merits of the case and offered to brief issues at the court's direction. The court affirmed and, after Robbins appealed his own case, the California Supreme Court denied review. After exhausting his state post-conviction remedies, Robbins sought federal habeas corpus relief, arguing that he had been denied effective assistance of appellate counsel. The Federal District Court granted Robbins' petition and concluded that his counsel failed to meet even the minimum duty to further a client's case after determining that his appeal was without merit. The Court of Appeals affirmed, but remanded the case for the District Court to consider other trial errors raised by Robbins.</p> <p>Does California's no-merit brief procedure, in which defense counsel has concluded that an appeal would be frivolous, violate a defendant's right to the effective assistance of appellate counsel?</p> 98-1037_19991005-argument http://www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1999/1999_98_1037/argument/ supreme, court, oyez, rehnquist