United States v. Patrick M. Reilley

EBEL, Circuit Judge.

In this case we are faced with three questions regarding the scope of a criminal defendant’s right to court-appointed counsel: First, is the scope of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 44(a) coextensive with that of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel? Second, does Scott v. Illinois, 440 U.S. 367, 373-74, 99 S.Ct. 1158, 1162, 59 L.Ed.2d 383 (1979), which limits the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in state petty offense trials to cases where the defendant is “sentenced to a term of imprisonment,” impose a similar limit in federal petty offense trials? And third, does a…