Court Opinion

ID: 9730885
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:27:00.371877+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:10.424253
License: Public Domain

*571DeBRULER, Justice,
dissenting.
Upon study, I find myself in accord with the thinking of the majority of the Second District, in its opinion on petition for rehearing to be found at 438 N.E.2d 1005. The accused in a criminal case who refuses to pay his lawyer’s fee and fires him on the morning of trial and expresses a desire to act as his own lawyer, because the lawyer has not been able to negotiate a plea agreement satisfactory to him, may be taking these steps in ignorance of the existence of his “right” to counsel and of its total content. When, as suggested by the opinion of the court below, the trial court is confronted by a defendant who affirmatively seeks to exercise the right to proceed pro se, the law should impose a mandatory duty upon the trial court to advise the defendant in clear and unambiguous language, “(1) of his right to counsel, (2) the exercise of his right to proceed pro se constitutes a waiver of that right, and (3) of the disadvantages of self-representation.” Rules requiring this kind of specificity and focus provide a more secure protection for the fundamental right to counsel, and at the same time should be welcomed by trial judges who simply want to do what is right in every case and get on with it.