Court: mentally ill defendant can't be own lawyer

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mentally ill criminal defendants who have been found competent to stand trial can be denied the right to represent themselves, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

States can insist, without violating the U.S. Constitution, that defendants who are competent enough to stand trial must have a lawyer if their severe mental illness means they are unable to represent themselves, the court said.

The court majority, in an opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer, concluded the state can deny such defendants the right to represent themselves.

The 7-2 ruling was a victory for the state of Indiana and the Bush administration, which argued the government's interest in fair criminal proceedings can outweigh a defendant's request to proceed as his own lawyer.

Breyer said the trial judge will often prove best able to reject a request from such defendants to be their own lawyer, based on a particular defendant's individual circumstances.

The California-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which had supported the state, hailed the ruling.

"The court has cleared the way for states to adopt guidelines preventing marginally competent defendants from representing themselves at trial," said the foundation's legal director Kent Scheidegger.

"This will help to assure that mentally ill defendants receive a competent defense while preventing them from acting out their delusions before a judge and jury," he said.