NCJ Number
168936
Journal
New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1996) Pages: 361-389
Date Published
1996
Length
29 pages
Annotation
By its decision in Nichols v. United States (1994), the U.S. Supreme Court has held constitutional the use of a prior uncounseled misdemeanor conviction to enhance a sentence in a subsequent conviction; this decision has limited the constitutional right to counsel by allowing an uncounseled misdemeanor conviction to serve as the basis of an additional term of imprisonment in a subsequent proceeding.
Abstract
The Court has established the critical nature of the right to counsel and its concern for indigent defendants when there is any prospect of a denial of that defendant's liberty. In accord with a criminal defendant's right to have the opportunity to be heard in court and to be afforded due process of law, an indigent criminal defendant has a right to the assistance of counsel to aid in his defense. The opportunity to be heard would have no purpose if it did not include the right to be heard with counsel. The Court's decision denied Nichols the right to due process of law and a fair trial by allowing a misdemeanor conviction, in which he was not represented by counsel, to serve as the basis for an extended period of imprisonment of 25 months. The Nichols Court failed to recognize Nichols' right to appointed counsel when a term of imprisonment is at issue and has undermined the constitutional guarantees provided by the Sixth Amendment. 218 footnotes