Smith v. State

This case presents us with the task of determining whether a witness is deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel when he is held in contempt based, in part, on an unauthorized disclosure of privileged information by his counsel. We hold that the witness in this case, Jeffrey Smith, received ineffective assistance of counsel when his attorney disclosed the nature of his advice to Smith and his opinion regarding the application of the Fifth Amendment.

Smith also seeks review of the trial judge’s assessment of the merits of his Fifth Amendment claim and the…