Nelson Hearings in Florida Drug Cases
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the rights of defendants in criminal cases to a fair trial. The text of the amendment lists several components of a fair trial but case law has further interpreted the amendment and set more specific criteria by which the court can tell whether the defendant’s trial was fair. For example, Gideon v. Wainwright determined that the court must appoint a public defender to represent defendants who cannot pay to hire a lawyer from a private law firm, and Strickland v. Washington determined that ineffective assistance of counsel, meaning major mistakes by lawyers, was sufficient to warrant an appeal of a defendant’s conviction. This sounds simple enough, but if your case does not go the way that you hoped, how do you tell whether it was your lawyer’s fault? In Florida, Nelson hearings are part of the process. To find out more about Nelson hearings and other less commonly talked about parts of the criminal process, contact a Florida drug offenses attorney.
When Things Go Wrong Between Defendants and Their Court-Appointed Lawyers
Ineffective assistance of counsel occurs when a lawyer makes a major mistake, and the lawyer’s mistake causes the defendant to get convicted or to receive a harsher sentence than he or she would have received if the lawyer’s work had been up to professional standards. You can appeal your conviction based on ineffective assistance of counsel whether you hired your own lawyer or the court appointed a public defender to your case.
Nelson hearings, which determine whether a lawyer was ineffective enough to warrant overturning the conviction, are applicable only when a court-appointed public defender is representing the defendant. Before the Nelson v. Florida decision in 1973, judges decided on a case-by-case basis whether the lawyer’s mistakes were serious enough to constitute a violation of the right to a fair trial. They found that, in most cases, the defendant’s grievances were simply because the defendant and the lawyer did not get along and their personalities were incompatible.
If a defendant wants to remove a court-appointed attorney from his or her case, the defendant can request a Nelson hearing. During the hearing, the judge will interview the defendant and the lawyer separately. If the judge determines that the lawyer is ineffective, the court will remove the attorney from the case, leaving the defendant without representation; the state has no obligation or resources to appoint a second public defender.
Of course, you can avoid this problem by hiring a lawyer of your choice from the beginning. There is no guarantee that you and a public defender will get along well or that a public defender will take your case seriously, since public defenders have an overwhelming workload. If you hire a lawyer, you can make an informed decision about which one you choose, and it is your decision, not a judge’s, whether you change lawyers in the middle of your case.
Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Drug Cases
A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if your case is a mess because of an error by your previous lawyer. Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.
Sources:
floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/self-representation-and-ineffective-assistance-of-counsel-how-trial-judges-can-find-their-way-thro/#:~:text=The%20trial%20judge%20must%20first,the%20circumstances%20surrounding%20the%20complaint.
