Opinion ID: 478419
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: APPLICABILITY OF FARETTA v. CALIFORNIA

Text: 47 Newton also asserts that [r]etrospective application of [Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975) ] violates due process by punishing acts that were innocent when performed, and offends the prohibition of laws ex post facto. This argument is meritless. 48 In Faretta, the Supreme Court reversed a California conviction because the defendant was denied the right of self-representation. Id. at 836, 95 S.Ct. at 2541. Newton was granted the right to represent himself at his 1964 trial. He does not contend before this court that his sixth amendment right to self-representation was violated. The record does not show that he was mentally incapable of understanding that he had a right to counsel. Thus, Faretta is clearly inapplicable to the validity of Newton's 1964 conviction. Newton has failed to show that the state trial court violated his right to self-representation under the sixth amendment. Any error that may have occurred in applying Faretta retroactively to the 1964 conviction was harmless because Newton was granted his sixth amendment right to represent himself in 1964. 49 The judgment is AFFIRMED.