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Ineffective assistance of counsel; criminal law; criminal defense attorneys; criminal justice; professional responsibility; AEDPA; habeas; Sixth Amendment; Strickland v. Washington
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“Lucky” Adnan Syed: Comprehensive Changes To Improve Criminal Defense Lawyering And Better Protect Defendants’ Sixth Amendment Rights, Meredith J. Duncan
“Lucky” Adnan Syed: Comprehensive Changes To Improve Criminal Defense Lawyering And Better Protect Defendants’ Sixth Amendment Rights, Meredith J. Duncan
Brooklyn Law Review
Almost twenty years ago, seventeen years old and accused of murder, Adnan Syed was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel at trial and sentenced to life in prison. The reality is that Syed is just another casualty of the criminal justice system’s tolerance of poor defense lawyering. The substandard quality of legal representation highlighted in Syed’s case continues to harm countless defendants nationwide, and the promise of effective assistance of counsel for the accused remains unfulfilled due to a combination of factors. This article suggests comprehensive changes to certain aspects of the criminal justice …