McKaskle v. Wiggins

After Carl Wiggins's (defendant) robbery conviction was set aside due to a faulty indictment and he was granted a new trial, he initially requested and received appointed counsel twice, but before his second trial announced he would represent himself pro se and asked that appointed counsel not interfere with his presentations. Throughout the trial, Wiggins repeatedly changed his mind about how much assistance he wanted from his standby counsel, sometimes rejecting help entirely and other times allowing them to question witnesses and address the court on his behalf. After his conviction, Wiggins argued his standby counsel had unfairly interfered with his self-representation; after exhausting state remedies, his federal habeas petition was denied by the district court but granted by the court of appeals, which found his Sixth Amendment right to self-representation had been violated. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.