Supreme Court Rules Against Schizophrenic Who Wanted to Represent Himself

U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court Rules Against Schizophrenic Who Wanted to Represent Himself

Posted Jun 19, 2008, 09:58 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that judges can bar mentally ill inmates from representing themselves at trial, even if they are deemed competent to stand trial.

The court ruled 7-2 in the case of Ahmad Edwards, who was not allowed to represent himself on charges that he stole a pair of shoes and shot at an unarmed security guard. He was later convicted of the charges. Edwards suffers from schizophrenia.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote in his majority opinion (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) that the Sixth Amendment right of self-representation is not absolute. He said a single standard should not be used to evaluate competence to stand trial and competence to represent oneself since the latter calls for an expanded role for the defendant.

Self-representation by a defendant with mental problems can result in an improper conviction or sentencing, undercutting the Constitution’s objective of providing a fair trial, he wrote.

Nor does self-representation “affirm the dignity” of the defendant, Breyer said. “To the contrary, given that defendant’s uncertain mental state, the spectacle that could well result from his self-representation at trial is at least as likely to prove humiliating as ennobling.”

The opinion is Indiana v. Edwards.

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