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OH11: Brian Jones contempt case reversed

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Where the public defender was appointed the day before trial and requested a continuance to prepare, it was an abuse of discretion to deny a continuance and hold defense counsel in contempt for not proceeding to trial where he would have been ineffective per se. The administrative convenience of the court is an insufficient reason to go forward because ineffectiveness cannot be cured on direct appeal. State v. Jones, 2008-Ohio-6994 (11th Dist. December 31, 2008): {¶24} “Where a trial court denies a continuance in a criminal trial and, as a consequence, defense counsel refuses to participate in the trial for fear that the defendant would receive ineffective assistance of counsel and that counsel would be in violation of DR 6-101(A)(2) and 7-101(A)(3), the court may commit error under the circumstances of the particular case in finding defense counsel in contempt and in imposing a fine...continue to full post

Full post as published by Law Of Criminal Defense on January 02, 2009 (boomark / email).