Joe Eugene Skipper v. Bennett H. Brummer, Davis Cohen, and Lennie Cooperman

598 F.2d 427, 1979 U.S. App. LEXIS 13386

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: July 6, 1979
• Docket: 78-3567
• Status: Published

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Appellant Skipper filed suit against Brummer, Cohen, Cooperman, three public defender lawyers, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, requesting $1,000,000 damages and alleging that appellees denied him effective assistance of counsel by allowing him to proceed to trial without counsel. The lower court held for appellees on the ground that public defenders are immune from liability under § 1983. We affirm this result, but for the reason that in this circuit the actions of court-appointed attorneys are not state action. Slavin v. Curry, 574 F.2d 1256, 1265 (5th Cir. 1978); U. S. ex rel. Simmons v. Zibilich, 542 F.2d 259, 261 (5th Cir. 1976).

AFFIRMED.