State v. Ghant

Citations

• 212 Conn. App. 662

Syllabus

Convicted, after a jury trial, of the crimes of unlawful restraint in the first degree, assault in the third degree and threatening in the second degree, and, after pleas of guilty, of being a persistent offender, the defendant appealed to this court. He claimed, inter alia, that the trial court violated his sixth amendment right to self-representation when it denied his request to proceed as a self-represented party. At a pretrial hearing, at which his counsel was not present, the defendant stated to the court that he wanted to fire his counsel. When the court began to explain that it was not allowed to talk directly with him without his attorney present, the defendant interjected and asserted that he wanted to defend himself. The court then said, ''I can't,'' twice in an attempt to finish its sentence and thereafter reiterated, ''I can't talk to you about'' self- representation. When the defendant asked for a transcript of the proceed- ings, the court stated, ''[n]o, no. You're not getting canvassed'' as to self-representation and told him to file an appearance with the clerk's office, after which he would be canvassed at the next court proceed- ing. Held: 1. The trial court did not violate the defendant's sixth amendment right to self-representation, as his statements to the court did not constitute a clear and unequivocal request to proceed as a self-represented party: the court neither clearly nor conclusively denied the defendant's request to represent himself but, rather, emphasized that it did not want to, and could not, speak with him without his attorney present, as the court's statements, ''I can't,'' and, ''I can't talk to you about this,'' reasonably could have referred to its view that it could not properly talk to the defendant about his request without his attorney present, and the court's statement, ''[n]o, no. You're not getting canvassed,'' could not be read as a clear denial of the defendant's request to represent himself, as it was not clear fro