Court Opinion

ID: 9625425
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:40:43.461602+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:08.331597
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE HARRISON,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. I believe what we have here is a clever defendant who has manipulated the system to get a new trial when by his own admission he committed the felony charged. In my opinion the trial judge did more than was required by statute to protect defendant’s rights. Defendant’s statements that he would secure counsel, the fact that he ignored the court’s directions to tell it who counsel would be, and the fact that he did not request a continuance, all lead to the conclusion that this was a preconceived plan for self-representation. Once he placed the court into ordering trial, without counsel for representation, he laid the foundation for exactly what has happened as a result of the majority decision.
We have held in numerous cases that matters dealing with the appointment of counsel for indigent defendants are for the discretion of the trial court. Petition of George Jones (1963), 143 Mont. 309, 387 P.2d 712; 23 C.J.S. Criminal Law §982(4). The prevailing case authority is that where the accused is able to secure counsel, but fails or refuses to do so, he waives his right to counsel. 23 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 979(3). In my opinion, based on this record, defendant refused to obtain counsel as a strategic tactic, and the ruling of the trial court should be upheld.