Drug-Addicted, Suicidal Lawyer Files Improper Appeal, But Death Row Inmate Suffers Consequences

In his recent Sidebar col­umn, Adam Liptak, Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times, dis­cussed the plight that Alabama death row inmate Ronald Smith suf­fered at the hands of a drug-addict­ed lawyer and an unsym­pa­thet­ic court. In December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that Smith could not chal­lenge his con­vic­tion and sen­tence because his lawyer failed to prop­er­ly file his post-con­vic­tion appeal. However, as Liptak explained, the court did not ​“place much weight on the fact that the lawyer him­self was on pro­ba­tion for pub­lic intox­i­ca­tion and addict­ed to crys­tal metham­phet­a­mine while he was being less than punc­til­ious. In the months that fol­lowed, the lawyer would be charged with drug pos­ses­sion, declare bank­rupt­cy and com­mit sui­cide.” Smith did have a sec­ond lawyer, but he was in Tennessee and not autho­rized to prac­tice in Alabama. Judge Rosemary Barkett (pic­tured) of the 11^th Circuit dis­sent­ed, say­ing clients should not be blamed for their lawyers’ mis­takes, espe­cial­ly since clients on death row have no role in the selec­tion of their lawyers and have no con­trol over them. ​“It is unjust and inequitable,” she wrote, ​“to require death row inmates to suf­fer the con­se­quences of their attor­neys’ neg­li­gence.” Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court com­ment­ed on the qual­i­ty of Alabama’s death penal­ty sys­tem: ​“Nearly alone among the states, Alabama does not guar­an­tee rep­re­sen­ta­tion to indi­gent cap­i­tal defen­dants in post-con­vic­tion pro­ceed­ings. On occa­sion, some pris­on­ers sen­tenced to death receive no post-con­vic­tion rep­re­sen­ta­tion at all.” (Maples v. Thomas).

Smith was con­vict­ed of mur­der in 1994, but his divid­ed jury rec­om­mend­ed a life sen­tence. The tri­al judge over­rode the jury and imposed a death sen­tence. Alabama is one of only three states that allow such overrides.

(A. Liptak, ​“Lawyers Stumble, Clients Take Fall,” New York Times, January 7, 2013). See Representation. Listen to our pod­cast on Representation.