Facts:  Petitioner Demar Rhome was convicted of murder in the Superior Court for King County after a trial in which Rhome was permitted to represent himself after waiving his right to counsel.  Rhome subsequently filed a personal restraint petition appealing his conviction in the Supreme Court of Washington, asserting that his waiver of his right to counsel had not been voluntary, knowing, and intelligent.  In particular, Rhome asserted that the trial court erred in failing to conduct a separate inquiry into his capacity to represent himself given that the trial court was aware of his history of mental illness and had earlier been called upon to determine whether he was even competent to stand trial.

Question(s):   Was the trial court required to conduct a separate inquiry into Rhome’s capacity to represent himself after finding that he was competent to stand trial?

Conclusion:  Justice Stephens’ opinion for a unanimous Court dismissed the personal restraint petition, concluding that the colloquy between Rhome and the trial judge, in which Rhome was advised of the risks of representing himself and Rhome indicated that he understood the significance of his decision, was sufficient to make Rhome’s waiver of his right to counsel voluntary, knowing, and intelligent.  Thus, the Court held that the trial court, having already found that Rhome was competent to stand trial, was not required to conduct an additional inquiry into Rhome’s mental competency to represent himself.

Docket No. 83788-1

Petitioner: Demar Rhome

(Counsel: Michael Filipovic)

Respondent: State of Washington

(Counsel: Daniel Todd Satterberg and Deborah A. Dwyer)

Briefs:

Argument: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 9:00am

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Prevailing Party: State of Washington (Respondent)

Vote: 9-0

Citation: Pending

Court: Madsen2 Court (2011-)

Madsen

Johnson

Alexander

Chambers

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson

Stephens
(Majority)

Wiggins