...even if it's not published. Last week the ICA issued its summary disposition in an appeal I filed as court appointed appellate counsel to a pro se defendant who, after repeatedly demanding stand-by counsel, in the end announced his desire to hire an attorney to represent him but, because of the recent loss of his job, had failed despite good faith efforts to secure counsel in time for trial.
On appeal, I argued that the defendant had not waived his right to counsel and that, while he did erroneously assert throughout pre-trial proceedings that the Sixth Amendment's "Assistance of Counsel" guarantee entitled him to stand-by counsel, in the end he had made an unequivocal assertion of his right to counsel, which was wrongly denied.
The ICA disagreed a bit with me on the facts and declined to acknowledge the defendant's final demand for counsel. Nevertheless, the ICA did agree with me that the trial court had failed to ensure a proper waiver of counsel before requiring the defendant to proceed pro se.
The ICA and I also agreed, concerning an additional issue on appeal, that the court had failed to make required findings of fact on the record in denying the defendant's HRPP Rule 48 speedy trial motion to dismiss.
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