Scott v. State, 2012 WY 86

Scott was convicted of first degree sexual assault, aggravated assault and child abuse; he challenged the district court's denial of his right to self-representation and his sentence as illegal.
The district court conducted a competence evaluation, then trial proceeded with defense counsel.
Scott requested to represent himself less than 48 hours before trial; the court denied the request as untimely and not knowingly/intelligently made.
Trial concluded with Scott represented by counsel and a verdict against him on all charges.
The district court sentenced Scott to consecutive felonies (35–50, 8–10, 4–5 years) and six-month misdemeanors to be served concurrently; time served credit of 516 days was applied to the overall sentence.
Scott argues the sentence scheme is impossible because misdemeanors cannot be served concurrently with three consecutive felonies; the court awarded time credit which extinguished the misdemeanors.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was Scott improperly denied the right to self-representation?	Scott	Scott's request was untimely and not knowingly/intelligently waived.	Denied on untimeliness; request could be denied but waiver not validly shown.
Is the sentence scheme illegal due to concurrent misdemeanors with consecutive felonies?	Scott	Time credit extinguished misdemeanors; not an illegal sentence.	Not illegal; credit extinguishes misdemeanors when sentences concurrent in a single prosecution.

Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (U.S. 1975) (right to self-representation; liability to waive counsel must be knowing and intelligent)
Ash v. State, 555 P.2d 221 (Wyo. 1976) (trial court must inform of consequences of self-representation)
Van Riper v. State, 882 P.2d 230 (Wyo. 1994) (waiver must be intentional and informed)
Williams v. State, 655 P.2d 273 (Wyo. 1982) (timeliness and trial-discretion considerations for pro se request)
Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S. 389 (U.S. 1993) (competence standard for waiver identical to competence for trial)