MORE WORK FOR US
The Supreme Court of the United States just made more work for us by deciding on 6/19/08, in Indiana v Edwards, 2008 U.S. LEXIS 5031, that a defendant may be fit for trial but not fit to exercise the right to self representation under Faretta v California, 422 U.S.806. Given that most of our judges despise pro-se trials, it is likely that this ruling will lead to court ordered BCX evaluations on the issues of fitness and fitness to exercise the right of self representation, and then the appointment of the PD. Interesting legal and professional/ethical problems will arise during these proceedings; to wit, what should counsel’s position on these issues be? Should we object to the appointment of counsel to preserve the defendant’s Faretta rights? Management probably needs to develop some policies on this which we can look forward to in a couple of years. In the meantime…well that’s why they pay us the big bucks.
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