Harold Lee Harvey, Jr. v. Florida

This Court held in McCoy v. Louisiana that a defendant’s Sixth Amendment autonomy right is violated when a defendant “expressly asserts that the objective of ‘his defence’ is to maintain innocence of the charged criminal acts” and counsel “override[s]” this objective by conceding guilt. 138 S. Ct. 1500, 1509 (2018) (quoting U.S. Const. amend. VI) (emphasis omitted). The Question Presented is: Is the Sixth Amendment autonomy right established in McCoy violated where counsel overrode an express agreement with the defendant to not concede guilt to first-degree murder, and did so without any notice to the defendant, leaving the defendant no realistic opportunity to object?