Legal Opinion
United States v. Brent Paul Swanson
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Decided August 27, 1991No. 90-10085PublishedCited by 257 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
ALARCON, Circuit Judge:
Brent Paul Swanson appeals from his conviction and sentence for bank robbery. We must decide whether a court appointed defense counsel’s concession, during closing argument, that no reasonable doubt exists regarding the only factual issues in dispute, constitutes a deprivation of the right to due process and the effective assistance of counsel that is prejudicial per se. We conclude that we must reverse because counsel’s abandonment of his client’s defense caused a breakdown in our adversarial system of justice.
PERTINENT FACTS
On February 22, 1989, Swanson was indicted…
2Cases cited30 opinions
- Strickland v. WashingtonSupreme Court of the United States · 1984
- Anders v. CaliforniaSupreme Court of the United States · 1967
- In Re WINSHIPSupreme Court of the United States · 1970
- Faretta v. CaliforniaSupreme Court of the United States · 1975
- United States v. CronicSupreme Court of the United States · 1984
25 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by257 opinions
- Nathaniel James v. Robert G. Borg, Warden Attorney General of CaliforniaCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1994
- Evans v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1997
- Nazzaro Scarpa v. Larry E. Dubois, Etc.Court of Appeals for the First Circuit · 1994
- Blue v. StateMississippi Supreme Court · 1996
- George Lindstadt v. John P. Keane, SuperintendentCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 2001
252 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.