nicholas ragin spend decade prison court-appointed attorney sleep 2006 trial week 30-year sentence throw u.s. 4th circuit court appeal richmond virginia.nicholas ragin wait long time justice first indict 2004 like many americans catch justice system could afford lawyer defend charge instead appoint public defender name nikita v. mackey.these serious charge ragin several others stand accuse run prostitution ring charlotte north carolina allege girls young 14 pimp 200 night six women testify trap service ragin allege accomplices case demonstrate devastate prostitution drug traffic gun tot charlotte community u.s. attorney gretchen shappert say write statement victims prey upon individuals regard dignity take 2006 case go trial four accuse sentence mandatory 10 year sentence possibility life behind bars.however would never know conviction sound due appal behavior ragin court-appointed attorney judge roger gregory u.s. 4th circuit court appeal rule ragin conviction conspiracy racketeer overturn receive defense due u.s. constitution write decision judge state hold defendant deprive sixth amendment right counsel counsel sleep substantial portion defendant trial nicholas ragin sixth amendment right counsel violate specific legal errors omissions indicate incompetence counsel representation ragin effectively legal assistance substantial portion trial attorney peter adolf testify appeal ragin trial judge lean microphone sit mackey move say mr. mackey loudly mackey jump sort look around lick lips move mouth look sort confuse look room .despite clear ineffective assistance counsel ragin trial proceed conviction without judge authority step uphold due process.what bad mackey form accord new york daily news resign charlotte police department 14 years cop face accusations falsify time sheets.remarkably four years late mackey elect sheriff police department state quickly overturn local news investigation uncover questionable vote tactics.mackey bungle legal case like fail appear court two separate trials 2007 2008 cause client adoption fall fail communicate legal process.his job performance shortcomings aside elect 2008 north carolina state representative serve two years office.in 2010 north carolina bar suspend license three years fail pay tax despite linkedin page say tax attorney.and ragin conviction overturn either innocent man spend 10 years jail crime commit guilty man free either way justice system fail catastrophically once.as john oliver highlight 2015 episode last week tonight even gift determine public defender unlikely able offer kind decent defense due hideous work condition place upon many load 1,000 case per year three case per day caseloads heavy public defenders possibly prepare effective defense oliver say study new orleans years back find city part-time defenders could spend average seven minutes per case long enough prepare anything seven minutes prepare show would definitely talk public defenders right desperately try fill time right list muppets order ckability familiar adnan syed case make famous serial late undisclosed podcast familiar issue around ineffective assistance counsel devastate impact whole communities syed spend 17 years jail 1999 murder ex-girlfriend hae min lee case found many inaccuracies prejudice simply beggar belief jail long day.the issue whether think person innocent guilty crime secondary issue justice system fail deliver effective trials particularly people afford pay defense without guarantee justice system justice system rich accuse presume innocent unless find guilty everyone else plea bargain system guilt presume simply matter negotiate penalty strip people freedom many state right vote.while situation allow continue u.s. justice system continue lag behind rest develop world americans continue deny justice.featured image via mecklenburg county man spend decade prison court-appointed attorney sleep trial