Kearse v. State

Appellant, James Kearse, raises three issues on appeal, one of which we find dispositive. Before a pre-trial suppression hearing, Kearse unequivocally requested that he be allowed to represent himself. The trial court denied the appellant’s request without conducting a Faretta hearing. In Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), the Supreme Court held that a defendant has an affirmative right to present his own defense. A trial court may not impose counsel on a “literate, competent, and understanding” defendant that has voluntarily waived his right to…