The Supremes Get One Right

Rothgery v. Gillespie County, Texas

Petitioner Rothgery was arrested by a cop as a felon in possession of a firearm, brought before a magistrate judge, denied appointed counsel, and required to post bail; he was subsequently indicted, re-arrested, had his bail increased, and jailed when he could not post his new bail. His appointed attorney at the time assembled the paperwork that demonstrated that Rothgery was not a felon and therefore got the indictment dismissed.

Rothgery sued, maintaining that had he been appointed counsel at the magistrate stage, he would never have been indicted or jailed, and that this violates his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The district court and Fifth Circuit appellate court dismissed on the grounds that right-to-counsel did not attach until a prosecutor was involved in case (here, at the indictment stage).

The Court held, 8-1:

A criminal defendant's initial appearance before a magistrate judge, where he learns the charge against him and his liberty is subject to restriction, marks the initiation of adversary judicial proceedings that trigger attachment of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

Sounds pretty fricking obvious to me. Your right to counsel attaches at the moment they can send you to jail. I'm surprised they had to explain this.

Posted by Greg at June 23, 2008 1:09 PM