Summary
U.S. Supreme Court case on whether the Constitution requires states to allow a mentally ill defendant to act as his own attorney. The case involves the 2005 conviction of Ahmad Edwards, a thief who shot a security guard and a bystander at an Indianapolis department store. Edwards spent several years in state mental institutions until doctors determined that, with the aid of an attorney, he was competent to stand trial. However, the trial judge denied the defendant's request to represent himself. On appeal, the defendant won an Indiana Supreme Court ruling overturning his conviction, announcing that an earlier U. S. Supreme Court decision (Faretta v. California) required the trial judge to grant the defendant's request. When the nation's highest court agreed to hear Indiana's appeal, CJLF joined the case. The Foundation argued that the Faretta decision did not prohibit states from setting limits on the right to self-representation to prevent mentally ill defendants from turning the trial into a mockery of justice. The Supreme Court agreed, enabling trial judges to preserve the fairness and reliability of the trial. [CJLF brief in PDF.]
