Matthew Pruden successfully overturned the conviction of his client whose original trial lawyer slept during portions of his trial. In a case presenting an issue of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held “that a defendant is deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel when counsel sleeps during a substantial portion of the defendant’s trial.” The court vacated N.R.’s conviction and sentence, which had been 360 months in prison. Click here and here for media coverage about the case.
↧