Eddie James Strozier v. Lanson Newsome, Warden, Georgia State Prison

KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge:

The sixth amendment guarantees not only a defendant’s right to the assistance of counsel at a criminal trial, but also the right to waive counsel and personally present his or her own defense. The defendant faces serious risks by pursuing the latter course, and the Supreme Court has required that the decision to proceed pro se be made knowingly and intelligently. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 835, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2541, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975).

Although a defendant need not himself have the skill and experience of a lawyer in order competently and intelligently to…