Court: can mentally ill defendant be own lawyer?

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether mentally ill criminal defendants who have been found competent to stand trial must be allowed to represent themselves.

Attorneys representing Indiana and the Bush administration argued before the high court that a judge can reject a request from such a defendant to be his own lawyer to prevent the trial from becoming a farce.

Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher and U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben said the government's interest in the fairness of criminal proceedings can outweigh a defendant's request to proceed as his own lawyer.

But attorney Mark Stancil, representing the defendant in the case, said eliminating the right of self-representation violated a fundamental constitutional principle.

The case involved Ahmad Edwards, who was convicted of attempted murder and other charges in 2005 following a shooting outside an Indianapolis department store in 1999.

Edwards suffers from mental illness, including schizophrenia and delusions. He spent most of the five years after the shooting in state psychiatric facilities.

But by 2005, he was found by psychiatrists and the judge to be competent to stand trial, able to consult with his lawyer and having a rational understanding of the proceedings against him.

Although Edwards wanted to act as his own lawyer, the judge denied his request. Represented by a lawyer, Edwards was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.