Eduardo Lopez v. United States
DueProcess FourthAmendment FifthAmendment CriminalProcedure Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Does a guilty plea automatically waive a defendant's right to appeal a structural defect in the underlying proceedings?
QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Following Class v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 798 (2018), does a criminal defendant’s guilty plea result in the automatic waiver of his right to appeal a structural defect in the underlying proceedings, to wit, an order disqualifying his retained counsel on Sixth Amendment grounds? 2. Where a law firm endeavors to jointly represent co-defendants, does Wheat v. United States, 486 US. 153 (1988), authorize a district court to override a criminal defendant’s waiver of conflict-free representation, for the specifically limited purposes of discovery and motions, and disqualify the law firm where no cooperation agreement has been offered to any defendant and no trial has been scheduled? ii PARTIES Eduardo Lopez is the Petitioner in this action and was the Appellant in the proceedings below. The United States of America is the Respondent in this action and was Appellee in the proceedings below.