Jerome Atilus v. United States

TUTTLE, Circuit Judge:

This appeal raises the difficult question whether the failure of non-appointed counsel in a criminal case in the United States District Court to perfect an appeal, when requested to do so, amounts to such dereliction of duty as to deny an accused the “effective aid” of counsel at a critical stage of the proceedings.

This is an appeal in forma pauperis from a denial by the lower court of the appellant’s motion to vacate or set aside this sentence, or, in the alternative, to provide for an out of time appeal.

In 1964, the appellant was convicted on five of eight counts of…