With Friends Like You, Who Needs a Jury? A Response to the Legitimization of Conceding a Client\u27s Guilt

Abstract

In response to the potential impact of the Nixon decision on the important Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel for the accused, this comment reviews the current legal standard and then advances two proposals. First, Nixon should be narrowly interpreted, because permitting attorneys to concede guilt without client consent is completely inconsistent with the protections afforded guilty pleas and confessions and further weakens the constitutional protection of effective assistance of counsel. Second, the American Bar Association and state bar associations should specifically require express consent prior to a lawyer conceding a client\u27s guilt as a matter of professional ethics within the Rules of Professional Conduct to more clearly and consistently define an acceptable standard of professional conduct