The Second Department determined pro se defendant was not deprived of his right to counsel when his request for standby counsel was denied. A defendant has no constitutional right to so-called “hybrid” representation:
The defendant contends that he was denied his right to proceed pro se. At the beginning of pretrial proceedings, however, the defendant sought standby counsel to assist in his self-representation. “A criminal defendant has no Federal or State constitutional right to hybrid representation. While the Sixth Amendment and the State Constitution afford a defendant the right to counsel or to self-representation, they do not guarantee a right to both . . . [, and] a defendant who elects to exercise the right to self-representation is not guaranteed the assistance of standby counsel during trial” … . However, “[b]ecause a defendant has no constitutional right to hybrid representation, the decision to allow such representation lies within the sound discretion of the trial court” … . Under the circumstances of this case, the County Court providently exercised its discretion in denying the defendant’s request for hybrid representation. People v Neree, 2016 NY Slip Op 06006, 2nd Dept 9-14-16
CRIMINAL LAW (PRO SE DEFENDANT DOES NOT HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO STANDBY COUNSEL)/ATTORNEYS (CRIMINAL LAW, PRO SE DEFENDANT DOES NOT HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO STANDBY COUNSEL)/PRO SE (CRIMINAL LAW, PRO SE DEFENDANT DOES NOT HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO STANDBY COUNSEL)/HYBRID REPRESENTATION (CRIMINAL LAW, PRO SE DEFENDANT DOES NOT HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO STANDBY COUNSEL)/STANDBY COUNSEL (CRIMINAL LAW, PRO SE DEFENDANT DOES NOT HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO STANDBY COUNSEL)