Cleveland v. State
Cleveland v. State
Opinion of the Court
Appellant challenges his convictions and sentences for felony battery and giving a false name or identification to a law enforcement officer, arguing, among other things, that the trial court denied his motion to represent himself without conducting an adequate Faretta inquiry. The State properly concedes error on this point. For this reason, we reverse. We decline to address the remaining issues, two of which are moot and two of which do not establish reversible error.
When a criminal defendant moves to discharge court-appointed counsel and represent himself, the court must inform the defendant of “the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation” and must also make an inquiry sufficient to determine whether the waiver of counsel is being made knowingly and intelligently. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 835, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975); Brown v. State, 971 So.2d 270, 271 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). The test governing a defendant’s
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Fred Antonio CLEVELAND, Jr. v. STATE of Florida
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published