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| Calif. Inmate on Death Row Gets Reprieve |
| By Los Angeles Times |
| Published: 04/16/2003 |
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A Los Angeles man who was sentenced to death after confessing to murder and other crimes won a rare reprieve last week from the California Supreme Court, which held that he was wrongly denied the right to represent himself during his trial. The state high court ruled unanimously that a Los Angeles judge erred when he summarily denied Omar Dent III's request to act as his own lawyer during his trial on charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery and kidnapping. In a separate opinion, three of the court's seven justices complained that they had 'no choice' but to overturn the convictions because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1975 that defendants have a constitutional right to represent themselves. The three said the high court ruling should be modified. Dent, 40, received the death penalty for murdering, robbing and kidnapping a Los Angeles merchant in 1988 and attempting to murder a second man who tried to intervene. Deputy Atty. Gen. Russell A. Lehman said that he will consider an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and that he expects that Los Angeles prosecutors will 'make every effort' to retry Dent. In an opinion written by Justice Janice Rogers Brown, the court said that a trial judge must permit defendants to represent themselves if they make the request voluntarily, intelligently and in a timely manner, 'irrespective of how unwise such a choice might appear to be.' Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John P. Shook denied Dent the right to act as his own lawyer because it was 'a death penalty trial,' the state high court said. At the time, Shook was removing Dent's two lawyers because they had missed court appearances or showed up late. As his trial was about to start, Dent informed the judge that he would prefer to represent himself rather than have new attorneys appointed for him. 'The court feels, because of the nature of the charge, you are not able to represent yourself adequately,' Shook said. Shook appointed new lawyers later that day, and Dent did not repeat his request. |
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