McCoy v. Louisiana
| McCoy v. Louisiana | |
|---|---|
| Argued January 17, 2018 Decided May 14, 2018 | |
| Full case name | McCoy v. Louisiana |
| Docket no. | 16-8255 |
| Citations | 584 U.S. 414 (more) 138 S. Ct. 1500; 200 L. Ed. 2d 821 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | State v. McCoy, 218 So. 3d 535 (La. 2016); cert. granted, 138 S. Ct. 53 (2017). |
| Subsequent | On remand, 251 So. 3d 399 (La. 2018). |
| Holding | |
| The Sixth Amendment guarantees a defendant the right to choose the objective of his defense and to insist that his counsel refrain from admitting guilt, even when counsel's experienced-based view is that confessing guilt offers the defendant the best chance to avoid the death penalty. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Ginsburg, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan |
| Dissent | Alito, joined by Thomas, Gorsuch |
McCoy v. Louisiana, 584 U.S. 414 (2018), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held the Sixth Amendment guarantees a defendant the right to decide that the objective of his defense is to maintain innocence at all costs, even when counsel believes that admitting guilt offers the defendant the best chance to avoid the death penalty.