Slim Supreme Court majority allows public defender to withdraw from representing indigent defendant - Nyemaster Goode On Brief

Slim Supreme Court majority allows public defender to withdraw from representing indigent defendant - Nyemaster Goode On Brief

Trial courts have a duty under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to assure that a criminal defendant who cannot afford to hire a lawyer is provided one at the State’s expense. To comply with that constitutional mandate, Iowa created the Office of State Public Defender (SPD) to employ attorneys to provide indigent defense or to contract with attorneys in private practice willing to take on those criminal cases. What happens when no pub…