Opinion ID: 848704
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the sixth amendment and the right to self-representation

Text: The Sixth Amendment safeguards the right to counsel at all critical stages of the criminal process for an accused who faces incarceration. Maine v. Moulton, 474 U.S. 159, 170, 106 S.Ct. 477, 88 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). The Sixth Amendment right to counsel is applicable to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963). The United States Supreme Court has stated that courts should `indulge every reasonable presumption against waiver of fundamental constitutional rights.' Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938), quoting Aetna Ins. Co. v. Kennedy, 301 U.S. 389, 393, 57 S.Ct. 809, 81 L.Ed. 1177 (1937). The United States Constitution does not, however, force a lawyer upon a defendant; a criminal defendant may choose to waive representation and represent himself. Iowa v. Tovar, 541 U.S. ___, 124 S.Ct. 1379, 1387, 158 L.Ed.2d 209 (2004). Waiver of the right to counsel... must be a `knowing, intelligent ac[t] done with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances.' Id. at 1383, quoting Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 748, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970). A waiver is sufficient if the defendant knows what he is doing and his choice is made with eyes open. Adams v. United States ex rel McCann, 317 U.S. 269, 279, 63 S.Ct. 236, 87 L.Ed. 268 (1942); Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S. 389, 401 n. 12, 113 S.Ct. 2680, 125 L.Ed.2d 321 (1993).