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Defending The Right Of Self-Representation: An Empirical Look At The Pro Se Felony Defendant, Erica J. Hashimoto

Scholarly Works

Why would a criminal defendant waive the right to counsel and proceed pro se? Conventional wisdom assumes that there is no good reason for a defendant to choose self-representation, and those who make that choice are therefore either mentally ill or foolish. Courtroom proceedings in cases of high-profile pro se defendants like Colin Ferguson and, more recently, Zacarias Moussaoui and John Muhammad, have only increased the dominance of this prevailing view. Even the Supreme Court has assumed that the right of self-representation in practice hurts, rather than helps, criminal defendants. Until now, however, no empirical study has examined the phenomenon …