Opinion

Brown v. Maxwell

  • 2 Ohio St. 2d 153
  • 31 Ohio Op. 2d 270
  • 207 N.E.2d 374
  • 1965 Ohio LEXIS 511
Court
Ohio Supreme Court
Filed
May 12, 1965
Status
Published
On the bench
Brown, Herbert, Matthias, Neill, Schneider, Taft, Zimmerman
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 46.9%

The opinion

Per Curiam.

In this action, petitioner alleges that he was held some 16 days before he was taken before a magistrate and charged, and that all this was done without the benefit of counsel. Petitioner at no time made any statement other than to deny his guilt. Petitioner alleges that he discharged his retained counsel, and that the court refused to appoint counsel to represent him. He contends further that he pleaded guilty to second degree murder because his attorney threatened him with the electric chair if he did not. Fundamentally, he argues that his attorney did not properly represent him.

The transcript of the proceedings shows that petitioner *154 was represented by retained counsel, that during the proceedings a disagreement arose between petitioner and his counsel in relation to whether the trial should be before a jury or a three-judge court, and that the attorney withdrew. The transcript in relation to this question shows also that the court did refuse to appoint counsel for petitioner on the ground that petitioner was not an indigent, and that subsequently, at the behest of petitioner’s family, his original attorney reentered the case and represented him throughout the remainder of the proceedings. The record shows also that the court carefully instructed petitioner as to his rights, including that of a trial by jury, and did everything possible to be sure petitioner understood what he was doing.

Petitioner remanded to custody.

Taft, O. J., Zimmerman, Matthias, 0’Neill, Herbert, Schneider and Brown, JJ., concur.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.