Can I Represent Myself?: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

As the past couple of articles on this blog have noted, criminal defendants have the right to represent themselves at trial thanks to the United States Supreme Court holding in Faretta v. California. However, as has also been noted, this can be a risky proposition. The previous article focused on the complexity of the rules of evidence and how they may pose a problem for inexperienced defendants at trial. This article focuses on an extension of that principle: ineffective assistance of counsel.

Ineffective assistance of counsel is one of the most popularly raised issues in criminal appeals. This is primarily so, because many defendants who are convicted at trial feel (rightly or wrongly) that if their lawyer had been more effective or attentive that they would have been acquitted. It is true that ineffective assistance of counsel does sometimes prejudice defendants at trial and potentially alter the outcome. For this reason, appellate courts will allow a defendant to put on evidence on appeal that his trial counsel was ineffective. In order to prevail on such a claim, however, the defendant must show that his or her trial counsel was indeed ineffective and that the attorney’s ineffectiveness altered the outcome of the case. This is a very big burden and is not often met.

If a defendant chooses to proceed pro se, however, he or she loses the right to assert this issue on appeal in all but the most extraordinary cases. Instead, the court will advise the defendant of the risks of self-representation and the benefits of having counsel at trial. If the defendant wishes to proceed pro se even after learning such information, he or she will not be allowed to assert on appeal that ineffective assistance of counsel prejudiced the trial. This rule makes a lot of sense, since any defendant could effectively get two chances at any criminal trial if he or she could merely try the first case pro se and then claim ineffective assistance of counsel if the verdict was unfavorable.

The best way to avoid dealing with issues of ineffective assistance of counsel is to contact an experienced criminal defense attorney to handle your case. Experienced Tennessee criminal law attorneys in Knoxville will possess the skill and knowledge to represent you effectively and zealously at trial in order to fight for a favorable resolution.