Kevin D. Heade
AZ State Bar # 029909
Training Director
Pinal County Public Defender
P.O. Box 2457
Florence, AZ 85132
(520) 866-7199
[email protected] Pursuant to Rule 28(a) of the Arizona Supreme Court Rules, the Pinal County Public Defender and Pinal County Office of Public Defense Services jointly petition this Court to amend Ariz. R. Crim. P. 6.3. This petition seeks to amend Rule 6.3(b)&(c) of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure to require that trial or plea counsel, before being permitted to withdraw, must take necessary ministerial steps to preserve the defendant’s right to appellate or post-conviction review. Specifically, the proposal extends the continuing duty of representation under Ariz. R. Crim. P. 6.3(b) to include the filing of a notice of post-conviction relief. Additionally, the proposal amends Ariz. R. Crim. P. 6.3(c) to require that, before a court grants a motion to withdraw after a judgment, the motion to withdraw must reflect that (1) counsel has advised the defendant of their rights and the defendant has not directed counsel to file a notice of appeal, or if applicable, a notice of post-conviction relief, or that (2) such a notice has already been filed.
This amendment ensures that withdrawal cannot operate as a procedural forfeiture of the defendant’s constitutional right to review. It also harmonizes Arizona’s procedural framework with Garza v. Idaho, 586 U.S. 232 (2019), Roe v. Flores-Ortega, 528 U.S. 470 (2000), and McCoy v. Louisiana, 584 U.S. 414 (2018), while resolving the ambiguity exposed by State v. Ainsworth, 250 Ariz. 457 (App. 2021).
Filed: January 8, 2026
Would amend Rule 6.3 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure to provide that, before being permitted to withdrawn, trial or plea counsel must take certain steps to preserve a defendant’s right to appellate or post-conviction review.
Comments must be submitted by no later than Friday, May 1, 2026, and any reply by a petitioner must be submitted no later than Monday, June 1, 2026.