(DOWNLOAD) "State Ex Rel Ford V. Holm" by State of Wisconsin in Court of Appeals District IV * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State Ex Rel Ford V. Holm
- Author : State of Wisconsin in Court of Appeals District IV
- Release Date : January 29, 2004
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 71 KB
Description
¶1. This case presents a question that has surfaced with some frequency in motion and writ practice before this court: Must an attorney appointed to represent an indigent defendant in post-conviction proceedings move for court permission to withdraw from representation after the attorney concludes that his or her client has agreed to have the attorney "close the file" without filing a post-conviction motion, appeal, or no-merit report? A closely related second question is whether appointed post-conviction counsel renders ineffective assistance by failing to obtain court permission to withdraw or otherwise seek a judicial determination that the defendant has knowingly waived either the right to appeal or the right to counsel? We conclude that the answer to these questions is no and that, given the supreme court's express declination to so order in State ex rel. Flores v. State, 183 Wis. 2d 587, 622-23, 516 N.W.2d 362 (1994), it would be inappropriate for us to require withdrawal motions to be filed in every case such as this. However, because we also conclude that the record before us is insufficient to permit us to determine whether Ford knowingly waived either the right to counsel or to an appeal, we refer the matter to the circuit court for evidentiary proceedings on the question of waiver.