State v. Collins

Citations

• 104 La. 629

Syllabus

<p>Syllabus.</p> <p>1. it is a requirement of the Constitution that a person charged with crime shall have “the assistance of counsel.”</p> <p>2. To make this right effective, counsel appointed to defend the accused should be accorded a reasonable time to prepare for the defence.</p> <p>o. In a murder case, where the indictment was returned, the accused assigned counsel, arraigned and the case set for trial, all done on the first day of tho term, which was Monday, and the day fixed for trial was the Thursday-following and actually tried on Friday, a postponement applied for by the accused and his counsel on the ground that the latter, engrossed with other business before the court, had not had time to prepare the defence, should have been granted.</p> <p>4. “The law travels with a leaden heel, but strikes with an iron' hand,” is a maxim pregnant with obvious meaning.</p>