Court Opinion

ID: 9909339
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-13 01:00:38.51535+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:49:04.330375
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-10464         Document: 00516998652             Page: 1      Date Filed: 12/12/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                                United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                         Fifth Circuit
                                       No. 23-10464
                                     Summary Calendar                                  FILED
                                     ____________                              December 12, 2023
                                                                                  Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                           Clerk

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Keidric Kei Von Brown,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Northern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 4:22-CR-146-1
                      ______________________________

   Before King, Haynes, and Graves, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Keidric Kei Von Brown has appealed his conviction following a bench
   trial of possession of a machinegun. Brown asserts that the district court
   erred in permitting him to represent himself during the bench trial.
          Criminal defendants have a Sixth Amendment right to counsel at
   critical stages of criminal proceedings against them. See United States v.

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-10464      Document: 00516998652          Page: 2   Date Filed: 12/12/2023

                                    No. 23-10464

   Mesquiti, 854 F.3d 267, 271 (5th Cir. 2017). Defendants likewise have a right
   of self-representation. See Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 809, 813-14 (1975).
          Our review is de novo. See Mesquiti, 854 F.3d at 271. Here, the record
   reflects that Brown’s waiver of his right to counsel was clear and unequivocal,
   see Faretta, 422 U.S. at 813-14, and the district court ensured that the waiver
   was knowing and intelligent, see Mesquiti, 854 F.3d at 272-74; United States v.
   Davis, 269 F.3d 514, 518 (5th Cir. 2001).
          The judgment is AFFIRMED.

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