U.S. v. Jones

Dist. Ct. did not err in initially granting defendant’s motion to represent himself at his trial on drug and firearm charges and in subsequently finding that said waiver was valid, under circumstances where defendant only presented frivolous jurisdictional arguments and did not meaningfully participate in his trial. Record showed that two different judges conducted thorough Faretta colloquies that covered defendant’s age, high school education, mental health, prior legal experience that included three felony convictions and disadvantages of self-representation. Fact that defendant participated only minimally at trial and presented frivolous “sovereign-citizen” jurisdictional defense did not require different result, since Sixth Amendment protects right of defendants to “go down in flames if they wish.” Ct. also rejected defendant’s claim that Dist. Ct. should have rescinded his waiver of counsel when defendant refused to participate in his trial.