Lawrence S. Bittaker v. J. J. Enomoto

GOODWIN, Circuit Judge:

Lawrence S. Bittaker was convicted in a California court on a charge of burglary some four years before Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), confirmed to defendants in state prosecutions the constitutional right of self-representation earlier recognized in federal courts. Bittaker brought habeas corpus before Faretta. The district court held after Faretta that the state’s denial of Bittaker’s right of self-representation was a federal constitutional defect requiring the setting aside of his state conviction. The state appeals; we…