People v. Davis

Opinion by Judge BERNARD.

¶ 1 This appeal analyzes four issues. The first concerns the intersection of mental illness and the right of defendants in criminal cases to represent themselves in trials, such as the one that was held in this case. On the one hand, the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause dictates that defendants who are so mentally ill that they do not understand the proceedings or are unable to assist their attorneys are incompetent to stand trial. On the other hand, defendants have a constitutional right, under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, to waive their right to counsel…