The right to counsel is often considered as a right to a fair trial as enshrined in the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Amendment states that it is the right of a defendant to be represented by an attorney. In case they cannot afford legal services, the government is mandated to ensure that they are represented by a legal counsel. Every defendant has the constitutional right to be represented by legal aid (Silva, 2012). The right to legal counsel was successfully pushed for by an unlikely America hero by the name Clarence Earl Gideon. He successfully appealed his case to the Supreme Court arguing that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial when the court refused to appoint a lawyer for him. The Supreme Court concluded that his right was indeed violated and that everyone deserves a right to an attorney despite their social, political or religious standing.
After the Gideon case, many Americans have had the opportunity to be represented by a lawyer appointed to them by the government. For example, Kimberly Hurell-Harring had to be represented in court by a state-hired attorney. Kimberly was a poor woman who worked at the nursing home and had done something stupid (Glaberson, 2014). She could not afford a lawyer to represent her and therefore was forced to seek legal help from a state-appointed attorney Patrick E. Barber. The lawyer was a public defender paid by the state to ensure fair trials to the poor. With advice from her attorney, Kimberly pleaded guilty to a felony that would later turn out not to be a crime. This highlighted the deficit in public attorney capabilities that have hindered the right to a fair trial. In her words, Kimberly felt her state-appointed attorney was on the side of the prosecutor and did not argue her case properly. Questions have frequently been raised as to the abilities of public defenders as most of them are swamped by the workload. Most public defenders have been found not to represent their clients effectively.
Cases that involve public defenders never materialize in favor of the defender. This is mainly because public defenders do not take their time to sit and understand the background of their case with their clients (Glaberson, 2014). In the case of Kimberly, she met her defender for an hour before the start of her hearing. Given that the defender had no time for her, he advised her to plead guilty to a felony she had not committed. The right to counsel should be offered at every stage of any case that is, from arrest to trial. However, this was not the case for Kimberly who only managed to see her lawyer at the court house.
Kimberly never exercised her right to self-representation. It was the duty of her attorney to uphold her right to fair hearing and trial. The attorney was mandated with ensuring that Kimberly constitutional rights were not being violated in any manner. He was responsible for advising Kimberly about her rights and explaining to her what to expect during the trial. The attorney was also responsible for negotiating a plea bargain with the state on behalf of Kimberly (Glaberson, 2014). He successfully managed doing this by negotiating a plea deal that eventually locked up Kimberly even though she did not commit the felony she was accused of.
References
Glaberson, W. (2014, October 27). The right to counsel: A woman becomes a test case. N.Y. / Region. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/nyregion/21lawyer.html
Silva, L. (2012). Right to counsel and plea bargaining: Gideon’s legacy continues. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2773810
