Category: URCrP008

Rules of Criminal Procedure – Comment Period Closed March 9, 2024

URCrP008. Appointment of Counsel. Amend. The Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure recently amended Rule 8 to clarify the responsibility of judges during a self-representation colloquy to waive the right to counsel. The Committee’s efforts aimed to emphasize the right to self-representation as a constitutional right directly related to the right to counsel and the right to appointed counsel for indigent defendants. Additional provisions to the Rule include amendments to the qualifications for appointment on capital cases to require that attorneys representing those defendants have sufficient criminal practice, experience, and training. The Rule is approved for a 45-day public comment period.

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Rules of Criminal Procedure – Comment Period Closed August 28, 2022

URCrP008.  Appointment of counsel. (AMEND). The language of this rule has been amended to clarify when the right to counsel applies to defendants charged with a criminal offense. The rule also includes a new subsection to explain the right to self-representation and how a defendant may waive the right to counsel. The colloquy courts should engage with defendants seeking to waive the right is provided in this addition. Finally, the rule clarifies the prerequisite qualifications for attorneys appointed to represent defendants charged in capital cases.

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Rules of Criminal Procedure – Comment Period Closed August 5, 2018

URCrP007C. Amend. The amendments to rule 7C will bring the rule in line with current practices. The rule clarifies the processes for securing a material witness’s testimony.

URCrP008. Amend. The amendments to rule 8 will make the rule consistent with developments in the law. The amendments will also require trial courts of record to appoint counsel on appeal from the roster maintained by the Board of Appellate Court Judges.

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Rules of Criminal Procedure

URCrP 08. Appointment of counsel. Amend. The amendments change the requirements to be appointed in capital cases, including increasing the number of education hours and requiring substantial work on a prior capital case.
URCrP 15.5. Out of court statement and testimony of child victims or child witnesses of sexual or physical abuse – Conditions of admissibility. Amend. The amendments are intended to help bring the rule into compliance with the requirements of Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 158 L. Ed. 2d 177 (2004).
URCrP 33. Regulation of conduct in the courtroom. Amend. The amendments will permit a judge to sanction an attorney or party for incivility in pleadings or courtroom conduct.

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