United States Sixth Circuit

Denial of a petition for habeas relief from a conviction and sentence second-degree murder and assault within intent to commit murder is affirmed over claims that: 1) the trial court violated petitioner's Sixth Amendment right to counsel by replacing his original court-appointed attorney with a different court-appointed attorney, allegedly without cause; and 2) an erroneous jury instruction regarding the mental state required to commit murder as an aider and abettor violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, and his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to it.

Appellate Information

• Argued 07/17/2007
• Decided 09/05/2007
• Published 09/05/2007

Judges

• Before: BOGGS, Chief Judge;  and CLAY and ROGERS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  James Sterling Lawrence, Royal Oak, Michigan, for Appellant.  William C. Campbell, Office of the Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee.   ON BRIEF:  James Sterling Lawrence, Royal Oak, Michigan, for Appellant.  William C. Campbell, Office of the Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee.