State v. Gerald

BRITT, Justice.

By his first assignment of error, defendant contends that the trial judge erred in failing to conduct a hearing to determine whether defendant wished to represent himself after defendant stated to the court that he did not want a lawyer.

This alleged error arose out of an incident that occurred during jury selection in which defendant spontaneously began to address the court. The trial judge immediately dismissed the prospective jurors from the courtroom and proceeded to inquire as to what was troubling defendant. The following exchange ensued.

DEFENDANT Gerald: Your Honor, sir,…