Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

Appeal for inefficient council

In PA if you have had a private attorney and after sentencing you'd like to appeal for inefficient council, can you ask for a public defender to do this if the person is currently serving a sentence and doesn't have monetary means?


Asked on 7/16/09, 10:39 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Davidson Law Office of John A. Davidson

Re: Appeal for inefficient council

The appeal is based on ineffective counsel. To prove that you need to show:

1) Counsel was ineffective AND

2) The ineffectiveness was material in the outcome of the case.

So even if counsel was ineffective but the weight of the evidence was such that even if the counsel was ineffective the outcome would not have been different if you had effective counsel then you lose the appeal.

{John}

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Answered on 7/16/09, 1:37 pm


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