Pierce v. United States

NEWMAN, Chief Judge:

Appellant was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder while armed, first-degree murder, and carrying a pistol without a license.1 On this appeal he contends that the trial court erred both by failing to conduct a proper inquiry upon his pretrial request for the appointment of co-counsel as well as by denying that request. These contentions require that we consider: (1) the question of the trial court providing co-counsel as a means of implementing the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel; (2) the nature of the inquiry which the trial court must make…