State v. Burden

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS No. 116,810 STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. AMBER E. BURDEN, Appellant. SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 1. An appellate court exercises de novo review over the legal question of whether a judge may refuse to allow a criminal defendant to exercise his or her constitutional right of self-representation because of mental incompetence. But an appellate court will review a district court's factual findings about mental competency for an abuse of discretion. 2. Under Indiana v. Edwards, 554 U.S. 164, 128 S. Ct. 2379,

171 L. Ed. 2d 345

(2008), the United States…