State v. Gibbons

The defendant, Frank Gibbons, appeals the refusal of the Superior Court (Groff, J.) to appoint counsel to assist him in petitioning for a suspended sentence. The sole issue presented on appeal is whether an indigent defendant, seeking a sentence suspension pursuant to RSA 651:20 (Supp. 1991), has a procedural due process right to the assistance of counsel under the fourteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution. The defendant does not invoke the State Constitution. We hold that procedural due process requirements do not apply to sentence suspension proceedings; hence, we affirm.

At the time…