Right To Counsel On Appeal

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

III. Right to counsel on appeal

To ensure meaningful access to the appellate process, the Constitution requires that indigent defendants be provided with counsel for the first-tier appeal. Douglas v. California, 372 U.S. 353, 357-58 (1963). However, a defendant does not have a right to counsel for a discretionary state appeal or discretionary review by the Supreme Court (i.e., a second-tier appeal). Ross v. Moffitt, 417 U.S. 600, 616 (1974) ("The duty of the State . . . is not to duplicate the legal...