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Delaware Supreme Court Announces Trial Courts Must First Resolve Defense Counsel’s Motion to Withdraw Before Addressing Defendant’s Plea-Withdrawal Request, Holding Failure to Do So Violates Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel
Loaded on Jan. 1, 2026
by David Kim
published in Criminal Legal News
February, 2026, page 36
Filed under:
Appointment of Counsel,
Sixth Amendment,
Counsel - Constructive denial of,
Self-representation,
Withdrawal.
Location:
Delaware.
by David Kim
The Supreme Court of Delaware held that when defense counsel moves to withdraw after a client expresses a desire to withdraw a plea, the trial court must resolve counsel’s motion before addressing the plea-withdrawal request, because plea-withdrawal proceedings are a critical stage at which the …
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More from this issue:
- Aphantasia: Why Truthful Witnesses Can Sound Like Liars, by Richard Resch
- California Supreme Court Announces Single Criminal Act Harming Multiple Victims Constitutes Only One Strike Under Three Strikes Law, by David Kim
- First Circuit Announces Modification of Juvenile’s Life-Without-Parole Sentence to Parole-Eligible Life Term Constitutes “New Judgment” Under AEDPA, Exempting Second-in-Time Habeas Petition From Gatekeeping Requirements, by Richard Resch
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Adoption of Transferred Intent Self-Defense, by Matthew Clarke
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Duration of GPS Monitoring Must Be Considered in Individualized Reasonableness Determination and Resulting Monitoring Period May Be Shorter Than Probationary Term, by David Kim
- Digital Parallel Construction: Detecting and Challenging Hidden AI, by Richard Resch
- California Court of Appeal: Trial Courts Have Inherent Authority to Correct Unauthorized Sentences at Any Time Without Habeas Petition, by David Kim
- Tiny Plants, Big Consequences: Moss Evidence in Courtrooms, by David Kim
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court (Opinion Announcing the Judgment of the Court): No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Unprotected Google Searches, by David Kim
- Delaware Supreme Court Announces Trial Courts Must First Resolve Defense Counsel’s Motion to Withdraw Before Addressing Defendant’s Plea-Withdrawal Request, Holding Failure to Do So Violates Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel, by David Kim
- Supreme Court of Maryland Announces Division of Correction Must Immediately Apply Time-Served Credit Against Valid Sentences When Convictions Are Vacated and May Not Toll Execution Pending Reprosecution; New Sentences Arising From New Convictions Take, by Sagi Schwartzberg
- Iowa Supreme Court Announces Framework for Admissibility of Expert Testimony on Eyewitness Identification, Holding Generalized Testimony on Psychological Factors Ordinarily Should Be Admitted, by David Kim
- Federal Funds Now Available for Police Drone Purchases, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Utah Supreme Court Announces Framework for Analyzing Combined Brady and Napue Violations, Affirms Postconviction Relief in Capital Murder Case, by Douglas Ankney
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- NEWS IN BRIEF
More from David Kim:
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Amending Indictment to Change Subsections of Aggravated Child Rape Statute Constitutes an Impermissible Substantive Amendment, April 1, 2026
- Oregon Supreme Court Announces Article I, Section 9, of State Constitution Protects Privacy in Internet Browsing Conducted Over Public Wi-Fi Networks, April 1, 2026
- Indiana Supreme Court Clarifies “Single Statutory Offense” for Substantive Double Jeopardy Analysis, Holding Powell Test Governs Multiple Convictions Under Elevated Forms of Common Base Offense, April 1, 2026
- SCOTUS Announces Sentencing Reform Act Does Not Authorize Automatic Extension of Supervised Release When Defendant Absconds, Resolving Circuit Split, April 1, 2026
- Fifth Circuit Announces Long Vehicle Protective-Search Exception Requires Contemporaneous Facts Demonstrating Third Party’s Potential Dangerousness Before Warrantless Vehicle Search Is Permissible, March 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Clarifies Two-Year Statute of Limitations Governs All § 1983 Claims Arising in West Virginia, Regardless of Underlying Tort or Survivability, March 1, 2026
- Montana Supreme Court: Due Process Prohibits Courts From Relying on Unproven Charging Allegations When Imposing Sex Offender Registration Duty, Announces First-Impression Rule Limiting Review to Elements of Conviction, March 1, 2026
- Eleventh Circuit Announces Hobbs Act Robbery Requires Force Before or During Taking, Reversing Conviction Where Defendant Used Force Only After Co-Conspirator Had Surreptitiously Stolen Property and Departed, March 1, 2026
- Second Circuit Holds Exclusion of Evidence Corroborating Defendant’s Testimony About Third-Party Statements Bearing on Intent Was Error, Clarifying That Rule 404(b) Does Not Bar Non-Propensity Evidence Offered to Support Credibility, March 1, 2026
- Oregon Supreme Court Announces Bright-Line Rule Requiring Dismissal Without Prejudice When State Fails to Appoint Counsel for Eligible Criminal Defendant Within 60 Days in Misdemeanor Cases or 90 Days in Felony Cases Post-Arraignment, March 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Montana Supreme Court Holds Defendant’s Sentence Must Be Vacated Where District Court Premised Sentence on Defendant’s Exercise of Constitutional Rights to Jury Trial, Silence, and Against Self-Incrimination, April 1, 2026. Fifth Amendment, Sixth Amendment, Self-Incrimination Clause, Right to Testify/Remain Silent, Acceptance of Responsibility.
- Acquitted Conduct Sentencing: Not Guilty – But Punished Anyway, March 1, 2026. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Federal Legislation, Fifth Amendment, Sixth Amendment, Acquitted Conduct/Uncharged Crimes/Dismissed Counts.
- Oregon Supreme Court Announces Bright-Line Rule Requiring Dismissal Without Prejudice When State Fails to Appoint Counsel for Eligible Criminal Defendant Within 60 Days in Misdemeanor Cases or 90 Days in Felony Cases Post-Arraignment, March 1, 2026. Appointment of Counsel, Public Defenders, Indigent Defense, Constitution, state, Counsel - Right to.
- Chicago Pays Exonerated Prisoners $7.5 Million, Bringing Total to $33.75 Million for Wrongful Convictions, Jan. 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Fabrication of Evidence, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence, Withdrawal.
- SCOTUS Holds Sixth Amendment Requires Case-Specific Necessity Determination to Screen Child Witnesses, Rejecting Reliance on Mandatory State Statutes Based on Generalized Legislative Findings, Dec. 15, 2025. Sixth Amendment, Confrontation Clause/Rights, Video/Closed Circuit TV Testimony, Confrontation Clause.
- DOJ Settles With Orange County Over Use of “Jailhouse Snitches”, Dec. 1, 2025. Informants, Sixth Amendment, Confessions - Admissibility, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Pleas Linked to Cooperation.
- Maine Superior Court Order to Reform Public Defender System Paused on Appeal, Dec. 1, 2025. Indigent Defense, Injunctions, Habeas Corpus, Sixth Amendment, Counsel - Constructive denial of.
- Sixth Circuit: Erlinger Error Requires Resentencing Where Government Cannot Prove Beyond Reasonable Doubt That Jury Would Find Prior Offenses Committed on Different “Occasions”, Oct. 15, 2025. Sixth Amendment, Three Strikes Statutes/Rule, Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration, Blakely/Booker, Miscalculation of the Guidelines Sentencing Range.
- Eleventh Circuit Announces Sixth Amendment Right to Proceed Pro Se at Sentencing if Defendant ‘Clearly and Unequivocally’ Expresses Desire to Do So After Faretta Inquiry, Aug. 1, 2025. Mootness, Counsel - Withdrawal/Substitution of, Self-representation.
- Arguing Successful Federal Habeas Corpus Claims, June 1, 2025. Habeas Corpus, Sixth Amendment, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel.
