Constitutional Requirement
Seminal case incorporating fundamental right to (appointed) counsel for indigent defendants in state courts for serious crimes.
Gideon v. Wainwright
Licensed attorney who provides legal assistance for a criminal defendant who is found indigent.
Public defender
The state's authority to determine how public defense services are delivered and the attorneys who can deliver the services.
Administration of indigent defense services
Post-trial phase after the defendant is found guilty and convicted where a jury or judge decides the defendants penalty.
Sentencing
The duty of attorneys to not share private information they have learned from representing a client.
Confidentiality
Where the legal representation provided to a crimnal defendant fails to meet the minimum standards expected.
Ineffective assistance
A government lawyer who brings forth criminal charges against an individual and has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prosecutor
A body –– whose members are appointed by government officals –– created for a designated purpose, such as to oversee an indigent defense system.
Commission
Defendant's first appeal to a higher court in their jurisdiction challenging their conviction.
Direct appeal
When an attorney has competing loyalties or stakes that compromise their duty to a case.
Conflicts
Conduct that harms or damages an individual's legal rights that negatively affects the outcome of a case.
Prejudice
Professionals who provide administrative assistance to attorneys.
Legal assistant
The ability to be free from political influence and judicial authority.
Independence
Legal avenues for the defendant post-trial and post-conviction to challenge their conviction.
Post-conviction
An attorney's caseload plus all other tasks that the attorney is responsible for, including private cases, cases in other jurisdictions, and professional responsibilities like training.
Workload
A dispute, disagreement, or opposition between two or more individuals.
Adversarial
A licensed attorney who is hired by an individual to provide legal services.
Private attorney
A method of providing criminal defense representation, where the same attorney represents the defendant throughout all stages of proceedings.
Vertical representation
Type of penalty for a convicted defendant where the judge delays or waives imprisonment and instead the defendant adheres to specific conditions.
Suspended sentence
A limit, generally on the number of cases on an attorney's caseload or the number of hours an attorney may work on an individual case.
Cap
Seminal case holding that state juvenile proceedings must comply with the requirements of the US Constitution, as incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment.
In re Gault
Private attorney who is appointed by the court to provide legal assistance to an indigent defendant.
Assigned counsel
The second indigent defense office that takes indigent criminal defense cases; this happens when there is a conflict of interest or overflow of caseloads at the primary provider office.
Secondary services
When a court hears an already decided case "fresh" or without looking at the existing record on the case or the prior court's decision.
De novo
When an attorney or an attorney's investigator conducts their own independent inquiry into the facts of a case, generally by interviewing witnesses, visiting the crime scene, collecting physical or digital evidence, or requesting public records.
Investigation