Haslom v. State

FARMER', Judge.

We face in this case a conviction obtained after a defendant was allowed to proceed as his own counsel, with the stand-by assistance of an assistant public defender. On appeal, he argues through the public defender that the trial court should have conducted an inquiry into certain matters before it permitted the defendant to have himself for the client. We agree.

Defendant was charged with sale and possession of cocaine and was represented by the Public Defender’s office in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit. Defendant apparently came to feel that the original assistant public…