Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-679_f2bh.pdf
Page Number: 7

Cite as:  596 U. S. ____ (2022) 

7 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

standard  applies.    The  court’s  merits  decision  easily  sur-
vives review.  No one meaningfully disputes that the court 
applied the correct governing rule set forth in Faretta.  See 
Cassano, 96 Ohio St. 3d, at 99, 772 N. E. 2d, at 90.  And a 
fairminded jurist could readily find that the Supreme Court 
of Ohio applied that rule reasonably.

To start, Cassano filed his May 1998 motion for waiver of 
counsel  simultaneously  with  his  request  for  substitute
counsel.  (They were docketed within a minute of one an-
other.)  Neither motion referenced the other.  Given these 
simultaneous,  contradictory  motions,  a  fairminded  jurist 
could easily agree with the Supreme Court of Ohio that Cas-
sano did not clearly and unequivocally invoke his right to 
represent himself.  In fact, two federal jurists would have 
held that Cassano made no clear and unequivocal demand
to represent himself “no matter what standard of review”
applies.  10 F. 4th, at 702 (opinion of Thapar, J.). 

Moreover,  a  fairminded  jurist  could  agree  with  the  Su-
preme Court of Ohio that Cassano’s April 1999 question to
the state trial court—“Is there any possibility I could repre-
sent myself?” App. to Pet. for Cert. 265a—“was not an ex-
plicit  and  unequivocal  demand  for  self-representation,” 
Cassano, 96 Ohio St. 3d, at 100, 772 N. E. 2d, at 91.  Cas-
sano asked a “tepid question,” and “[q]uestions are not de-
mands.”  10 F. 4th, at 703 (opinion of Thapar, J.).  For ex-
ample,  a  fairminded  jurist  could  reasonably  think  that
Cassano  was  asking  “a  contingent  question  inquiring
whether self-representation [was] even an option for the fu-
ture.”  Id., at 698 (opinion of Griffin, J.).  In that vein, the 
rest of the exchange suggests equivocation.  Shortly before
Cassano asked about self-representation, he said: “I would 
like my lead counsel to be here and be prepared when my 
trial starts.”  App. to Pet. for Cert. 264a.  Much like Cas-
sano’s conflicting filings in May 1998 left unclear whether 
he did or did not want counsel, Cassano’s conflicting state-
ments in April 1999 left unclear whether he did or did not