Indigent defendant not entitled to substitute counsel

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The State Public Defender may appoint substitute counsel for defendants who want one, as a matter of policy.

But indigent defendants have no constitutional right to substitute counsel, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held on July 8.

Justice N. Patrick Crooks wrote for the court, “As the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals put it, the Sixth Amendment does not guarantee ‘a friendly and happy attorney-client relationship,’ but rather effective assistance of counsel.”

Pursuant to Wis. Admin. Code PD 2.04, if a defendant requests different counsel, the SPD shall honor the request, if the defendant has not made a previous one, and “[s]uch change in counsel will not delay the disposition of the case or otherwise be contrary to the interests of justice.”

Nevertheless, the court held there is no constitutional right to substitution of counsel.

Case: State v. Jones, 2008AP2342

For the full article by David Ziemer, please see the July 19, 2010 Wisconsin Law Journal.