Blueford

Blueford v. State

Good Law
46 F. App'x 456
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitSeptember 16, 2002No. 99-56203; D.C. No. CV-95-02638-AHMCalifornia342 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Herman J. Blueford, a California state prisoner, appeals the district court’s dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 . We review de novo the denial of a habeas corpus petition, while we review the district court’s findings of fact for clear error. See Moran v. McDaniel, 80 F.3d 1261,1268 (9th Cir.1996). We affirm.

Blueford first contends that his Sixth Amendment right to self-representation was violated on three separate occasions by the state trial court. Athough a criminal defendant does have a right to self-representation, see Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 807 , 95 S.Ct. 2525 , 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), the request to proceed pro se must be timely and unequivocal, and not made for the purpose of causing delay. See Jackson v. Ylst, 921 F.2d 882, 888-89 (9th Cir.1990).

The district court properly determined that Blueford’s requests to represent himself were not unequivocal, and the record supports that conclusion. See id. at 889 (concluding that an emotional request for self-representation following an adverse ruling “did not demonstrate to a reasonable certainty that he in fact wished to represent…

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