Barnes v. State

CATES, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment denying relief under a petition for a writ of error coram nobis. The sole question is: Does Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799, have retroactive effect?

The circuit judge ruled, “No.”

Betts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 455, 62 S.Ct. 1252, 86 L.Ed. 1595, was expressly overruled in Gideon v. Wainwright. Moreover, Betts v. Brady did not hold that out and out denial of counsel in a noncapital case was permissible. Rather, if the trial court had made a bona fide effort to ascertain whether the defendant needed counsel, then the…