United States v. Turner, No. 10-2524 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). On appeal, defendant argued that he was mentally incompetent to proceed pro se both at trial and sentencing. The court affirmed the judgment and held that defendant's waiver of counsel was voluntary, knowing and intelligent and the district court did not err in finding that he was mentally competent to make the decision to proceed pro se; the district court did not clearly err by failing to sua sponte order a competency hearing after observing defendant's behavior at trial; and defendant received the minimum possible sentence and any error in failing to order a competency review for sentencing was harmless.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law. Defendant's waiver of counsel was voluntary, knowing and intelligent, and the district court did not err in finding he was mentally competent to make the decision and proceed pro se; court did not clearly err by failing to sua sponte order a competency hearing after observing defendant's behavior at trial; defendant received the minimum possible sentence, and any error in failing to order a competency review for sentencing was harmless, as the court could not have imposed a more lenient sentence than the mandatory minimum.
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