» Entries tagged with "rule 32"
A Couple of Suggestions
I regularly hear lawyers make the same stupid mistakes. Here are a couple of suggestions to help them avoid two very common mistakes: 1) Don’t argue ineffective assistance on direct appeal You can try, but it isn’t going to work. I’ve seen judges appoint new counsel for a direct appeal because they thought appellate counsel might want to argue ineffective assistance. Lawyers have told me they intend to argue ineffective assistance on direct appeal. Please, have a look at State v. Spreitz, 202 Ariz. 1, 3, 39 P.3d 525, 527 (2002). The Supreme Court of Arizona explained: [I]neffective assistance of counsel claims are to be brought in Rule 32 proceedings. Any such claims improvidently raised in a direct appeal, henceforth, will not be addressed by appellate courts … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arizona Cases, Arizona Statutes, Practice in General
Post-Conviction Remedies
In Arizona, a defendant who pleads guilty cannot file a direct appeal. Instead, his only remedy is filing a Rule 32 Petition for Post-Conviction Relief. Most of my clients think that winning a petition for post-conviction relief is always a good thing. Unfortunately, in some cases, people may end up being worse off for having filed a successful petition. If I file a rule 32 petition arguing that a trial court did not have jurisdiction because the statute of limitations had expired, the case essentially goes away if the court of appeals agrees with me. Similarly, the state likely will not bother with a case if essential evidence is suppressed due to constitutional issues or if a criminal statute is held unconstitutional. However, a number of clients want … Read entire article »
Filed under: Post-Conviction
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