High Court reverses drug conviction for defendant who represented himself

By Geoff Dornan

Appeal Capitol Bureau

Ruling the district court failed to show Jerry Hooks "knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily" waived his right to an attorney, the Nevada Supreme Court Thursday threw out his drug trafficking conviction and ordered a new trial.

In November 2003, Clark County prosecutors charged him with two counts of selling cocaine and one of giving the drug away.

According to the opinion, after Hooks said he wanted to defend himself, the district judge only asked him if he could read, write and understand English. The judge advised him that, before trial, Hooks would be questioned extensively about whether he understood the ramifications of defending himself.

But according to the opinion by Justice Michael Cherry, that canvass never happened.

Hooks was found guilty after a one-day trial, adjudicated as an habitual criminal and sentenced to three life terms in prison with possible parole.

The opinion says omission of that canvass is not necessarily reversible error, "if it appears from the whole record that the defendant knew his rights and insisted upon representing himself."

"Here, the record as a whole does not demonstrate that Hooks made a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of his right to counsel," the opinion states.

It says the only record is from the justice court preliminary hearing where Hooks was asked about his education and advised of several disadvantages of self-representation. The panel of Cherry, Chief Justice Mark Gibbons and Justice Bill Maupin said that doesn't convince them Hooks was fully aware of those risks at trial.

Therefore, they agreed, the conviction must be overturned.

Maupin, in a supplementary concurring opinion, went one step further. He pointed out there is no indication in the record Hooks was aware of the full range of potential punishment - namely the habitual criminal ruling that allows a life sentence instead of 15 years for trafficking.

Maupin wrote that he now believes full and formal canvasses of defendants seeking to represent themselves should be mandatory and that, "any conviction of a self-represented defendant in the absence of such a canvass should result in reversal of that conviction."

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.