Anders v. California
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''Anders v. California'', 386 U.S. 738 (1967), was a
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case in which a court-appointed attorney filed a motion to withdraw from the appeal of a
criminal case Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
because of his belief that any grounds for
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
were frivolous. The Supreme Court ruled that any such motion must be accompanied by a brief (commonly referred to as an ''Anders'' brief) outlining the case and any potential (albeit possibly frivolous) grounds for appeal, that the appellate court must independently review the case, and that a defendant must be allowed the right to appeal either ''pro se'' or by other counsel.


Background

The specific case involved a California defendant, Charlie Anders, who was convicted of felony possession of marijuana. Anders then requested that the California District Court of Appeal appoint appellate counsel for him, which was granted. Anders' counsel, after review of the case and discussion with Anders, determined that no non-frivolous grounds for appeal existed, and notified the court by letter that counsel would not file an appeal, and that Anders wanted to file an appeal on his own behalf. The entire notification consisted of a single letter from Anders' counsel to the court stating that there was no merit to the appeal. Anders then requested that another attorney be appointed. That request was denied, whereupon Anders filed a ''pro se'' appeal which was not successful. Six years later, Anders requested that his case be re-opened on the basis that he was denied the right to counsel. Both the California District Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court ruled against Anders, whereupon Anders appealed to the Supreme Court which granted
certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...
. The U.S. Supreme Court held in the specific case that Anders was denied his Sixth Amendment right to counsel, as the bare assertion of lack of grounds for appeal by his counsel was not enough to constitute adequate representation. The Court ruled, however, that an attorney could still move to withdraw on the basis that no non-frivolous grounds for appeal exist, but that certain steps had to be taken before such a motion could be granted.


''Anders'' brief

In order to file an ''Anders'' brief (also called a "no-merits brief"), the attorney must do the following: # The attorney must file a motion to withdraw as the defendant's counsel. # The motion to withdraw must "be accompanied by a brief referring to anything in the record that might arguably support the appeal." Any and all grounds, even if counsel considers them frivolous, must be raised in the brief. Those grounds include areas such as whether or not a plea of guilty was made voluntarily and freely, or whether the sentence imposed by the court was within the permissible range. # The defendant should be given a copy of the brief and given time to raise any grounds (either ''pro se'' or by other counsel) that the defendant so chooses to raise. # The court must then independently "after a full examination of all the proceedings" decide if the appeal is wholly frivolous. If the court decides it is, then it is to grant counsel's motion to withdraw and then (depending on state law) either dismiss the appeal or rule on its merits, but must still allow the defendant to further appeal if desired. If the court, though, finds that there is at least one non-frivolous ground, it must then allow the defendant the right to make the case and appoint counsel if needed. (As part of an ''Anders'' brief, an attorney may request that, if the court finds a non-frivolous ground(s) for appeal, the attorney be allowed to withdraw the brief and remain as counsel, whereupon the attorney would then amend the appeal to argue on the ground(s) that the court has found.)


Practical effect

The decision of whether or not to file an ''Anders'' brief is sometimes difficult for lawyers seeking to respect the ethical rules on frivolity while being zealous advocates for their clients. The
Oregon Court of Appeals The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the US state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has thirteen judges and is located in Salem. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the O ...
noted an anomaly with the ''Anders'' decision: if counsel raises ''no'' grounds for appeal, then the court must review the ''entire'' record to determine if a ground for appeal may exist, but if counsel raises ''any'' ground (even only one), then the court is only required to review that portion of the record pertaining to the ground raised by counsel and is not required to review any portion related to other grounds not raised. Anders in the Fifty States, Florida State University Law Review, 1996. There is the possibility that an attorney may not see the merit in the error assigned by his or her client, and a client may have viable grounds for the client's claim. In ''State v. Williams'', the Ohio Court of Appeals granted an attorney leave to withdraw, but found a potentially meritorious error and designated a different attorney to represent the defendant, noting pointedly that “an Anders brief is not a substitute for an appellate brief argued on the merits.” There have been incidents where cases have been pressed through the courts after the attorney was granted withdrawal based on an ''Anders'' brief, and the defendant has gone on to prevail. The Court of Appeals of Ohio reversed a conviction in ''State v. Wilkinson'', and in ''State v. Kerby'' the court determined that there was a potential issue as to the voluntariness of the confession, appointed new counsel to argue it, and ultimately threw out the defendant's conviction.


States abandoning ''Anders''

According to an article in the Florida State University Law Review, some states have abandoned the ''Anders'' procedure for other means to review appellate cases where the attorney claims no non-frivolous grounds. For example, Idaho does not permit the attorney to withdraw from the case. The attorney, though, can still file an ''Anders'' brief (in terms of arguing that there are no non-frivolous grounds for appeal), but the courts do not then independently review the record for error, the argument being that ''Anders'' does not trigger the court to do so unless the attorney moves to withdraw, which Idaho has chosen not to permit. New Hampshire also does not permit withdrawal, but specifically exempts a potentially frivolous appeal from being subject to attorney sanctions. North Dakota has taken a different approach: it allows an attorney to withdraw but then assigns a different attorney to the case so the defendant has counsel if desired. California no longer requires the attorney to withdraw. Now she or he may submit a "Wende Brief", named after the case in which the procedure was approved.


States expanding ''Anders''

Though ''Anders'' itself applies only to criminal proceedings, at least one state has expanded its holding to include other types of cases. The
Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...
has applied ''Anders'' by case law to
family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage, ...
cases involving termination of parental rights and to adult protective custody cases, and by its own rules to
juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...
and
involuntary commitment Involuntary commitment, civil commitment, or involuntary hospitalization/hospitalisation is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified agent to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hos ...
cases.
Rules of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of the State of Arkansas
', Rules 4-3(k) (juvenile delinquency) & 4-8 (involuntary commitment). Reviewed June 22, 2013.


See also

*'' Pennsylvania v. Finley'' (1987)


References


External links

* {{Sixth Amendment, counsel, state=expanded United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court 1967 in United States case law United States Sixth Amendment appointment of counsel case law United States professional responsibility case law 1967 in California Legal history of California