Cite as: 511 U. S. 485 (1994)
Souter, J., dissenting
Even if, consistently with principles of stare decisis, Burgett and Tucker could be read as applying only to some class of cases defined to exclude claimed violations of Strickland or Boykin, the question whether to confine them so is not easily answered for purposes of the Ashwander rule. Burgett and Tucker deal directly with claimed violations of Gideon, and distinguishing for these purposes between violations of Gideon and Strickland would describe a very fine line. To establish a violation of the Sixth Amendment under Strickland, a defendant must show that "counsel's performance was deficient," and that "the deficient performance prejudiced the defense" in that "counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable." 466 U. S., at 687. It is hard to see how such a defendant is any better off than one who has been denied counsel altogether, and why the conviction of such a defendant may be used for sentence enhancement if the conviction of one who has been denied counsel altogether may not. The Sixth Amendment guarantees no mere formality of appointment, but the "assistance" of counsel, cf. Strickland, supra, at 685, 686 ("That a person who happens to be a lawyer is present at trial alongside the accused . . . is not enough to satisfy the [Sixth Amendment]" because " 'the right to counsel is the right to the effective assistance of counsel' "), and whether the violation is of Gideon or Strickland, the defendant has been denied that constitutional right.
It is also difficult to see why a sentencing court that must entertain a defendant's claim that a prior conviction was obtained in violation of the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel need not entertain a defendant's claim that a prior conviction was based on an unknowing or involuntary guilty plea.
relied at least in part on 'misinformation of constitutional magnitude' such as prior uncounseled convictions that were unconstitutionally imposed," 462 U. S., at 887, n. 23 (quoting Tucker, 404 U. S., at 447), clearly indicating an understanding that Tucker was not limited to Gideon violations.
507
Page: Index Previous 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007