Halbert v. Michigan

545 U.S. 605 (2005)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Michigan state judges generally denied appointed appellate counsel to indigents” convicted by plea. The Michigan Supreme Court upheld this practice. D, convicted on his plea of nolo contendere, sought the appointment of counsel to assist him in applying for leave to appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals. The state trial court and the Court of Appeals denied D’s requests for appointed counsel, and the Michigan Supreme Court declined review. D pleaded nolo contendere to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. During D’s plea colloquy, the trial court did not tell D that it could not appoint counsel in D’s own case. The trial court set D’s sentences to run consecutively. D submitted a handwritten motion to withdraw his plea the day after sentencing. Denying the motion, the trial court stated that D’s “proper remedy is to appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals.” D asked the trial court to appoint counsel to help him prepare an application for leave to appeal to the intermediate appellate court. The trial court denied the request. On a second asking by D, the court denied D’s motion stating that D “does not have a constitutional … right to appointment of appellate counsel to pursue a discretionary appeal.” The State Supreme Court denied D’s application for leave to appeal to that court. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.