When a suspect interrogated over a warrant application has no counsel, who selects one, and how long does that selection keep its effect?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
The practice file to read holds the warrant application and the papers the court received with it, any note on whether the suspect had counsel at the interrogation, the court's decision selecting counsel, the ruling rejecting the warrant application if one was made, and any later decision cancelling the selection.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading makes this a firm duty of the district court judge: where the suspect to be interrogated has no counsel, the judge selects one on the court's own initiative, and that selection keeps its effect up to the first instance, except where the warrant application is rejected and the selection's effect is thereby extinguished.
Another reading rests on the separate wording for a second appointment: the court 'may', on its own initiative, select counsel again where the selected counsel's circumstances or other reasons lead to the selection decision being cancelled, so reselection is not automatic and the provision does not say how long a reselected counsel's effect runs.
Your judgment
If the selected counsel does not appear at the interrogation date, what in the record shows whether the suspect in fact had counsel for the purpose of the court's duty?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change how long the selection keeps its effect, or if a court decision explains when a suspect is treated as having no counsel at the interrogation.