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Thursday, January 24, 2008

Ind. Decisions - SCOTUS to hear second Indiana case

A very brief story today in the Indianapolis Star reports:

The U.S. Supreme Court has set a date to hear arguments in the Indianapolis case of a man who wants to be his own lawyer.

The justices will hear Ahmad Edwards' case March 26. In 2005, Edwards was convicted in Marion Superior Court of attempted murder and other charges in a 1999 lunch-hour shooting outside Circle Centre mall.

A judge ruled him competent to stand trial but said mental illness prevented him from being able to represent himself. Indiana courts overturned the conviction, and the Indiana attorney general's office asked the high court to take up the case.

The case is Indiana v. Ahmad Edwards. The issue is: Whether the Sixth Amendment grants a defendant found competent to stand trial the right to represent himself in a criminal proceeding. The SCOTUSBlog Wiki entry provides access to the briefs.

The ILB reported on the cert grant in this Dec. 7, 2007 entry. The news here is that this week the SCOTS released the date set for oral arguments -- Wed., March 26th.

Here are pertinent ILB entries on the Indiana Supreme Court's decision in this case:

Ind. Decisions - "As it stands today, we are bound by these authorities as Supreme Court precedent"

Here is a quote from our Supreme Court's May 17th decision in Ahmad Edwards v. State: Here we have a determination by an experienced trial judge that Edwards was incapable of presenting a defense. That determination is necessarily based on factors...

Posted in The Indiana Law Blog on May 21, 2007 09:45 AM

Ind. Decisions - More on: Supreme Court reverses attempted murder conviction

Re yesterday's Supreme Court decision in Ahmad Edwards v. State (see ILB entry here), here are quotes from an AP story which the Indianapolis Star has headlined "Schizophrenic can represent himself. "Anyone who is competent to stand trial has the right...

Posted in The Indiana Law Blog on May 18, 2007 07:48 AM

Ind. Decisions - Supreme Court reverses attempted murder conviction [Updated]

Ahmad Edwards v. State - in a 10-page, 5-0 opinion Justice Boehm writes: "Edward's conviction for attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon are reversed and this case is remanded for further proceedings. We summarily affirm the Court of...

Posted in The Indiana Law Blog on May 17, 2007 02:55 PM

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 24, 2008 06:23 AM
Posted to Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions