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A possible explanation for Rothgery confusion

Folks are still trying to figure out what the Rothgery case decided by SCOTUS this week really means. A perhaps helpful insight comes from the blogger at South Carolina Criminal Defense Lawyer, who points out that:this was not an appeal from a criminal conviction. It was not a question of a statement that a defendant was asking to be suppressed because he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. This was a civil claim under 42 U. S. C. §1983. The Plaintiff was arrested and charged with felon in possession of a handgun, although he was not a felon. At his first appearance before a magistrate, he asked repeatedly for his attorney which was not provided to him. He appeared before a magistrate, was released on bail, was indicted and re-arrested, and spent three weeks in jail before an appointed attorney was able to explain to the prosecutor that he was not a felon and should not have been arrested in the first place...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on June 25, 2008 (boomark / email).