Post-Trial
Indictment
Probation Hearing
Appeal
First Right
Discretionary
Presumption
An indigent defendant is only entitled to appointment of counsel as a matter of right, not for discretionary appeals. Ross v. Moffit.
Right to Counsel
Rebuttal
A post-trial decision made by a prosecutor is presumed to be constitutionally "suspicious." Blackledge v. Perry
The defendant cannot allege that the prosecutor’s decision was vindictive if the case circumstances have changed.
Violation
Defendant is convicted. She appeals for a trial de novo. In the meantime, the prosecutor obtains an indictment on a higher charge.
The prosecution’s decision to seek an indictment on a higher charge is unconstitutionally "vindictive."
Violation
The defendant is indigent and can't afford a lawyer. The court does not appoint a lawyer for her. The defendant is sentenced to probation.
The defendant violates probation. The court appoints an attorney to be present at the defendant’s probation revocation hearing. The defendant is sentenced to prison.
Right to Counsel
If the defendant does not have a lawyer during the trial phase, then the court is prohibited from imposing prison at some later point. Shelton v. U.S.
Note = It does not matter if the charge was a felony or a misdemeanor.
Right to Transcript
An indigent defendant is entitled to the effective assistance of counsel during the first appeal from a criminal conviction. Douglas v. California
A state may not deny due process to the indigent defendant or invidiously discriminate against this person.
The defendant still has "meaningful access" to court review, despite poverty.
The indigent defendant still has a brief and often an opinion by the appellate court, which disposed the case.
14th Amend, not the 6th Amend, protects this right, b/c the criminal prosecution has ended.
A state must provide a transcript free-of-charge to the indigent defendant when the transcript is necessary for this person to obtain an “adequate appellate review of their alleged trial errors." Griffith v. Illinois.