James Robert Scott, Jr. v. Louie L. Wainwright, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections

SIMPSON, Circuit Judge:

In this habeas case petitioner Scott argues that the Florida court erroneously denied him his constitutional right to self representation in his criminal trial. The district court denied habeas relief and held that the Fifth Circuit did not recognize an absolute constitutional right to self representation prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), and that Faretta is not retroactive. The law in this circuit at the time of Scott’s trial accorded criminal defendants the constitutional right to self…