Lackawanna County District Attorney v. Coss, 532 U.S. 394, 11 (2001)

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404

LACKAWANNA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY v. COSS

Opinion of the Court

generally may not challenge the enhanced sentence through a petition under § 2254 on the ground that the prior conviction was unconstitutionally obtained.

III

A

As in Daniels, we recognize an exception to the general rule for § 2254 petitions that challenge an enhanced sentence on the basis that the prior conviction used to enhance the sentence was obtained where there was a failure to appoint counsel in violation of the Sixth Amendment, as set forth in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U. S. 335 (1963). The special status of Gideon claims in this context is well established in our case law. See, e. g., Custis v. United States, 511 U. S. 485, 496-497 (1994); United States v. Tucker, 404 U. S., at 449; Burgett v. Texas, 389 U. S. 109, 115 (1967). Cf. Daniels, ante, at 382.

As we recognized in Custis, the "failure to appoint counsel for an indigent [is] a unique constitutional defect . . . ris[ing] to the level of a jurisdictional defect," which therefore warrants special treatment among alleged constitutional violations. See 511 U. S., at 496. Moreover, allowing an exception for Gideon challenges does not implicate our concern about administrative ease, as the "failure to appoint counsel . . . will generally appear from the judgment roll itself, or from an accompanying minute order." 511 U. S., at 496.

As with any § 2254 petition, the petitioner must satisfy the procedural prerequisites for relief including, for example, exhaustion of remedies. See 28 U. S. C. § 2254(b) (1994 ed., Supp. V). When an otherwise qualified § 2254 petitioner can demonstrate that his current sentence was enhanced on the basis of a prior conviction that was obtained where there was a failure to appoint counsel in violation of the Sixth Amendment, the current sentence cannot stand and habeas relief is appropriate. Cf. United States v. Tucker, supra, at

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