State v. Davenport

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

LaVECCHIA, J.

In this appeal we address whether a defendant’s right of self-representation has been infringed. Specifically, we must consider whether the trial court’s restrictions on defendant’s movements within the courtroom, which prevented his physical presence at sidebars that were conducted during jury selection and trial with the assistance of standby counsel, prevented defendant from exercising his right to represent himself.

I

The facts are summarized from the trial record. At the time of his arrest, defendant Johnnie Davenport was a…