New York Court of Appeals building in Albany. Photo: Ryland West/ALM 'I Would Love to Go Pro Se': Defendant's Retort Divides Court of Appeals Over His Right to Self Representation
The majority said the defendant's statement was not definitive. But Justice Jenny Rivera said it should have immediately triggered a judicial inquiry into whether his demand was made "knowingly and intelligently" and that the defendant could have been deprived of his right to act as his own lawyer.
February 16, 2022 at 05:56 PM
3 minute read
A criminal defendant's retort of "I would love to go pro se" did not reflect a definitive commitment to self-representation, the New York Court of Appeals held on Tuesday, over the strong dissent of one of its most outspoken justices.
The terse decision upheld an intermediate appellate court's ruling that the defendant, Vladimir Duarte, did not make a "clear and unequivocal" request to represent himself when he engaged in a back-and-forth with a trial-court judge over the effectiveness of his court-appointed counsel.
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