Decision to Waive Counsel

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//May 2, 2023//

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Qwanell Jones

Case No.: 22-2312

Officials: Scudder, Kirsch, and Lee, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Decision to Waive Counsel

Police officers in Raymond, Illinois, discovered a loaded firearm, cocaine, and more than 800 methamphetamine pills on Jones’s person and in his car during a traffic stop in March 2020. Federal charges followed for various drug and firearm offenses. Facing federal charges, Jones exercised his Sixth Amendment right to represent himself under Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975). Jones now claims that the district court should have prevented him from doing so. But the district court rightly concluded that he had knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to counsel.

Affirmed.

Decided 04/24/23

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