Burgess v. State

OPINION ON APPELLANTS’ PETITIONS FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

CLINTON, Judge.

These petitions for discretionary review were granted, and consolidated, so that we could review rulings of two panels of the Fourteenth Court of Appeals upholding convictions of defendants who were allowed to represent themselves despite the failure of each to execute a written waiver of the right to counsel under Article 1.051(f) and (g), V.A.C.C.P. We are once again called upon in these causes to balance the accused’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel against his independent Sixth Amendment right not to have counsel…