context: We agree that he received something, and that it would be hard to call it anything but an appeal, but we cannot agree that what he received passed constitutional muster. The purpose of having counsel on appeal is to get a decision on the merits of the appealable issues the record presents.
citation_a.signal: see
citation_a.parenthetical: "the services of a lawyer will for virtually every layman be necessary to present an appeal in a form suitable for appellate consideration on the merits"
citation_a.sentence: See Lucey, supra, at 393, 105 S.Ct. 830 (“the services of a lawyer will for virtually every layman be necessary to present an appeal in a form suitable for appellate consideration on the merits”); 394 n. 6 (counsel is necessary “for the defendant to obtain a decision at all — much less a favorable decision — on the merits of the case”); 395 (“the Constitution cannot tolerate trials in which counsel, though present in name, is unable to assist the defendant to obtain a fair* decision on the merits”); see also United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 656, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984) (“[t]he right to the effective assistance of counsel is ... the right of the accused to require the prosecution’s case to survive the crucible of meaningful adversarial testing”).
citation_b.signal: see also
citation_b.parenthetical: "[t]he right to the effective assistance of counsel is ... the right of the accused to require the prosecution's case to survive the crucible of meaningful adversarial testing"
citation_b.sentence: See Lucey, supra, at 393, 105 S.Ct. 830 (“the services of a lawyer will for virtually every layman be necessary to present an appeal in a form suitable for appellate consideration on the merits”); 394 n. 6 (counsel is necessary “for the defendant to obtain a decision at all — much less a favorable decision — on the merits of the case”); 395 (“the Constitution cannot tolerate trials in which counsel, though present in name, is unable to assist the defendant to obtain a fair* decision on the merits”); see also United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 656, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984) (“[t]he right to the effective assistance of counsel is ... the right of the accused to require the prosecution’s case to survive the crucible of meaningful adversarial testing”).