The Denial of Counsel of Choice
On Aug 30, 2002, a Dauphin County conference justice allocated Allen Welch to paint Randolph in his collateral murder trial. In a following 5 months, Welch, who was using for District Attorney in adjacent Perry County, visited Randolph only once, call Randolph’s family to commence efforts to sell a bar his mom owned so they could lift income to sinecure Samuel Stretton as private counsel. Randolph, who asserted his innocence, told a justice in Jan 2003 that he and Welch essentially disagreed about conference plan and asked about representing himself during trial. As a compromise, a justice available Anthony Thomas, who had been attending a record during a ask of Randolph’s family, to offer as delinquent second counsel.
The subsequent time Randolph seemed in justice was in late Mar 2003, when he schooled that Welch had nonetheless to secure a services of an questioner and had filed pretrial motions though deliberating a issues with him or providing any notice. Welch certified that he had met with Randolph once with Thomas to go over a find materials supposing by a prosecution, though pronounced it was invalid to speak with his customer about a invulnerability until he had a services of an investigator. Randolph afterwards told a justice he would rather paint himself than be represented by Welch.
At an Apr 3 hearing, Randolph told a justice that he “didn’t wish to relinquish [his] right to counsel, though [he] did wish to change [his] allocated counsel.” The justice denied his motion. Given a choice of stability with Welch or representing himself, Randolph eventually motionless opposite self-representation. Welch finally got justice capitulation for an questioner in on Apr 4, though never hired anyone.
One week before trial, with Randolph still angry about Welch’s failures to promulgate and ready for trial, Randolph’s family was finally means to secure appropriation to sinecure Stretton. Stretton immediately filed a suit to enter his coming and Welch upheld Randolph’s bid to change counsel.
Stretton requested a one-month continuance, observant both a need for time to reconnoitre himself with a box and scheduling conflicts he had during a following week, including an coming in a Pennsylvania Supreme Court on a morning jury preference was set to begin. The justice denied a continuation request. Stretton afterwards requested a continuation of “a day or two,” that a justice also denied. Three days before jury preference was set to begin, Stretton mutated his request, seeking that jury preference be pushed behind 3 hours, until noon, to accommodate his previously-scheduled coming before a Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Welch attempted to convince a conference justice to extend a continuance, revelation a judge, “I have during this indicate positively a finish relapse of communication with my client.” The justice pronounced it would check jury preference one hour, forcing Welch to paint Randolph in a trial.