Akins v. Easterling, No. 08-6161 (6th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted in Tennessee in 1998 of especially aggravated robbery and state courts upheld his conviction. The district court denied a petition for habeas corpus. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, rejecting a claim that the trial court erred in permitting the prosecution to exercise a peremptory challenge to excuse an African-American prospective juror The conclusion that the prosecutor provided legally sufficient, race-neutral reasons for striking the individual and application of a sole-motivation standard, rather than a per se approach or mixed-motive standard, were not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established legal principles. Defendant's claim that he felt he had no choice but to represent himself because he was unhappy with his appointed counsel is not a basis for granting habeas corpus; the court reasonably concluded that he knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to counsel.
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