Nevada Supreme Court Agrees on Standards of Representation for Indigent Criminal Defendants
October 19, 2008
The rights of indigent Nevadans who are in need of legal representation for criminal matters have been strengthened thanks to an October 17 order from the Nevada Supreme Court. In the decision, the Court agreed to adopt new standards for the legal representation of indigent individuals charged with crimes and set a deadline of April 1, 2009 for their implementation.
The ACLU of Nevada commends the Nevada Supreme Court for taking this important step to ensure the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of effective defense representation is given life here in Nevada.
The new standards set out basic guidelines of criminal representation – from evidence-gathering to taking enough time to talk to the client to preparing for sentencing procedures – that have, sadly, not been consistently met in Nevada.
All of the Justices agreed that the performance standards should be adopted, but three Justices dissented from the majority opinion on three key areas. First, Justices Nancy Saitta and Michael Cherry said the deadline to implement the new standards should be January 1, 2009. The deadline for implementation was originally set for April of this year and was extended to review the impact of the new standards for on rural counties. A hearing is now scheduled for January 6, 2009 to consider that impact. Second, Justices Saitta, Cherry, and William Maupin said that the standards should require an attorney to advise their client of any “collateral consequences” of entering a guilty plea, including any immigration consequences. Finally, Justice Maupin said that the standards did not go far enough to protect defendants in capital cases. He said that in a defense team for any capital case should include both mitigation and psychological consultants. The ACLU of Nevada agrees with the dissenting Justices that these additional safeguards should have been included in the adopted standards.
The Nevada Supreme Court invited the ACLU of Nevada to join its Indigent Defense Commission, created to examine, report on, and recommend solutions to issues affecting the right to counsel for indigent defendants in criminal and juvenile delinquency cases. The Commission submitted reports and made recommendations to the Court on this issue.
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