Herrington v. the State, 332 Ga. App. 828

Defendant Johnny Herrington was convicted by a jury of possession of a sawed-off shotgun, giving false information to a law enforcement officer, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
On the morning of trial, while represented by a public defender, Herrington told the court he wanted to "replace my counsel" and at one point said "I will represent myself." The court warned him of the dangers of self-representation, discussed the matter, then directed counsel to confer with Herrington; trial proceeded with the same counsel.
Herrington later testified that he gave officers an ID bearing the name "Jeffrey Curvin," denied ownership/knowledge of the shotgun found in plain view in the trailer, and claimed he feared a probation violation.
The State introduced evidence of two prior misdemeanor convictions for giving false information (1991 and 1998) to show intent/bent of mind; the record does not show Herrington had counsel in those prior proceedings.
Herrington appealed, arguing (1) the trial court denied his right to self-representation and (2) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to introduction of the two uncounseled prior convictions.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Right to self-representation	Herrington contends the court erred by denying his Faretta right when he said he wanted to represent himself the morning of trial.	State argues his remarks were not an unequivocal pretrial assertion of the right and he abandoned the request.	Court: No error — remarks were equivocal and effectively abandoned; no unequivocal assertion before trial.
Ineffective assistance for not objecting to admission of prior uncounseled convictions	Herrington argues counsel was deficient for not objecting to evidence of two uncounseled false-information convictions (inadmissible under Gideon/Burgett) and that he was prejudiced.	State argues even if counsel erred, the evidence against Herrington was strong and any error was not prejudicial.	Court: Assume deficiency but no prejudice — no reasonable probability outcome would differ; ineffectiveness claim fails.

Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975) (criminal defendants have constitutional right to self-representation)
Thaxton v. State, 260 Ga. 141 (1990) (unequivocal pretrial assertion of Faretta right requires a hearing to ensure waiver of counsel)
McDonald v. State, 296 Ga. 643 (2015) (request on morning of trial not necessarily an unequivocal Faretta assertion)
Danenberg v. State, 291 Ga. 439 (2012) (similar holding that morning-of-trial requests were not unequivocal Faretta assertions)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong ineffective assistance standard: deficient performance and prejudice)
Kitchens v. State, 289 Ga. 242 (2011) (Georgia statement of Strickland standard)
Clenney v. State, 229 Ga. 561 (1972) (evidence of prior convictions obtained without counsel may be inadmissible under Gideon/Burgett)