| Litigants: | Alabama v. Shelton |
| Arguedate: | February 19 |
| Argueyear: | 2002 |
| Decidedate: | May 20 |
| Decideyear: | 2002 |
| Fullname: | Alabama v. LeReed Shelton |
| Usvol: | 535 |
| Uspage: | 654 |
| Parallelcitations: | 122 S. Ct. 1764; 152 L. Ed. 2d 888; 02 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4307; 2002 Daily Journal D.A.R. 5472; 15 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 281 |
| Prior: | Defendant convicted, Alabama Circuit Court; affirmed, 851 So. 2d 83 (Ala. Crim. App. 1998); sentence reversed, 851 So. 2d 96 (Ala. 2000); certiorari granted, . |
| Holding: | A suspended sentence that may result in incarceration may not be imposed if defendant did not have counsel at trial. |
| Majority: | Ginsburg |
| Joinmajority: | Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, Breyer |
| Dissent: | Scalia |
| Joindissent: | Rehnquist, Kennedy, Thomas |
| Lawsapplied: | U.S. Const. amend. VI |
Alabama v. Shelton, 535 U.S. 654 (2002), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling that counsel (a lawyer) must be provided for the accused in order to impose a suspended prison sentence.
Shelton was accused of third-degree assault, which, in Alabama, is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $2,000 fine. The court repeatedly warned Shelton of the dangers of representing himself during the trial, yet failed to offer him counsel. He represented himself both in the local court, where he was convicted, and the Alabama Circuit Court, where he was also convicted. However, the Circuit Court gave Shelton a 30-day suspended sentence and 2 years' probation.
The Criminal Court of Appeals found that it was not compulsory to offer the defendant counsel for a suspended sentence because the sentence did not result in actual confinement.
The Supreme Court of Alabama stated that: (1) a defendant may not be sentenced to a term of imprisonment absent provision of counsel; and (2) for purposes of this rule, a suspended sentence constitutes a "term of imprisonment," even though incarceration is not immediate or inevitable.
The United States Supreme Court affirmed the Supreme Court of Alabama's decision.