State v. Howard

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of criminal endangerment. On appeal, Defendant asserted judicial bias and argued that his appointed counsel violated their duty of loyalty. The Supreme Court held (1) this court declines to undertake consideration of the merits of Defendant’s bias allegation pursuant to the plain error doctrine because Defendant’s assertion of bias did not implicate a fundamental right or convince the court that failure to review the claim would result in a manifest miscarriage of justice, leave unsettled the question of the fundamental fairness of the trial proceedings, or compromise the integrity of the judicial process; and (2) Defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims were not reviewable on direct appeal because they were not factually established in the record. View "State v. Howard" on Justia Law