Kevin M. Millette v. State of Rhode Island

Chief Justice Suttell, for the Court.

Claiming that his defense counsel, who was not licensed to practice law in Rhode Island, was engaging in unlawful conduct, Kevin Millette (Millette or applicant) argues that he was denied his constitutional right to counsel when he pled nolo contendere to two criminal offenses and admitted to violating his probationary sentence. Millette further maintains that his defense counsel's associate, who was licensed in Rhode Island and who appeared in court with Millette, was merely a "straw man" and thus complicit in the scheme to practice law without a license.…