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An appeals court overturned the conviction of a North Carolina man who was serving time for his involvement in prostitution and drug rings because his defense attorney was asleep for much of his trial, according to court documents.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte handed down the ruling on Thursday, court documents said.“We hold that a defendant is deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel when counsel sleeps during a substantial portion of the defendant’s trial,” appeals court justices wrote in their opinion.Nicholas Ragin was indicted in October 2004, along with six co-defendants, on charges of conspiracy and other offenses related to their involvement in prostitution and drug rings, court documents said.The district court appointed Nikita V. Mackey as counsel for Ragin, the documents said.Ragin pleaded not guilty and was tried, along with three of his co-defendants, before a jury in 2006.The trial included testimony from about 40 witnesses, according to court documents.The jury found Ragin guilty on both counts, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.In October 2010, Ragin moved to have his conviction and sentence vacated. Ragin raised 11 claims for relief, including 10 allegations accusing Mackey of ineffective counsel, court documents said.In a post-trial sworn affidavit, Ragin said: “Counsel fell asleep twice during trial, which more than shows his lack of interest and dedication to my case.”The court agreed, and said Ragin was deprived of his Sixth Amendment rights, which guarantee a defendant the assistance of counsel for his defense.In the written opinion, the court wrote: “The evidence is not disputed; it demonstrates that counsel was asleep for much of Ragin’s trial. As one witness testified, counsel was asleep “frequently ... almost every day ... morning and evening” for 30 minutes at least at a time.”The jurors discussed and commented on Mackey being asleep, including during jury deliberations and may have held that fact against Ragin in reaching their verdict, according to documents.The appeals court vacated the conviction and sentence.In reaction to the decision, U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose gave the following statement:“Mr. Ragin’s prosecution, conviction and incarceration kept the community safe. While we are disappointed that the Court of Appeals did not accept the findings of fact by the trial judge who we believe was in the best position to observe the conduct of defense counsel during the trial, public safety continues to be our priority, and we are committed to retrying Mr. Ragin for the crimes he committed.”