Frank Joseph McCartney v. United States

While it may be argued that appointment of counsel in a proceeding to vacate sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 is discretionary with the United States District Court in a case such as the one before us, we do not need to direct our attention to that question here. The District Court in this case exercised its judgment and appointed counsel to represent the prisoner, McCartney. Having thus determined that counsel should have been appointed, the District Court should have taken steps to insure effective representation.

Counsel apparently misconceived his role. It was his duty to honorably…