Pennsylvania DUI Attorney
Right to Counsel
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has held that a defendant's right to counsel attaches at critical stages of a proceeding or prosecution. A "critical stage" of the prosecution is defined as "any stage of the prosecution, formal or informal, in or out of court, where counsel's absence might derogate from the accused's right to a fair trial." Commonwealth v. McCoy, 895 A.2d 18, 29 (Pa. Super. 2006) citing U.S. v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218 (1967). Notwithstanding this however, the court has held that "the decision of whether to submit to chemical testing" when "made during an encounter involving the gathering of evidence" is not a critical proceeding "for the purposes of right to counsel." Id. at 28.