Snead v. State

I

It is now clear that an accused in a criminal prosecution has two independent constitutional rights with regard to the management of his defense. He has both the right to have the assistance of counsel and the right to defend pro se. The first is guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the federal constitution and emerged as a clear constitutional rule from a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States over the last 50 years. See, e.g., Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25, 92 S. Ct. 2006 (1972); Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S. Ct. 792 (1963);…