If an actual conflict of interest is present, and that conflict results in any adverse effect on the representation, the result is automatic reversal.

Appeals courts have indeed ruled in recent months that the failure to indicate possible conflicts of interest could lead to automatic reversals of any convictions obtained.

Even if it protected choice of counsel, it did not mean that violation of this right should be grounds for automatic reversal.

By simply turning down the Texas appeal, the court at least suggested that the sleeping lawyer's deficiency did meet the test for automatic reversal.

The remedy for erroneous deprivation of first choice counsel is automatic reversal.

Erroneous denial of a reasonable doubt instruction is a structural error that entitles the defendant to automatic reversal.

If the trial judge erroneously permits the striking of a juror under Batson, and the error is preserved, the only remedy is automatic reversal.

He added that "automatic reversal is strong medicine" that should be reserved for serious errors that "always or necessarily" make a trial unfair.

A federal appeals court ruled last year that such sentences were subject to automatic reversal under the Supreme Court's decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey.

Most states impose similar rules on prosecutors, but the penalties involved are usually far less severe than automatic reversal.