William Ayers v. Johnathan Hall, 900 F.3d 829

William Ayers, an experienced Kentucky criminal-defense attorney, was indicted in 2008 on five counts of failing to file state tax returns and proceeded unrepresented at pretrial and trial without any on-the-record waiver of counsel.
At arraignment and thereafter, the record contains no colloquy informing Ayers of his right to counsel or any explicit waiver; the Commonwealth conceded no waiver appears on the record.
Ayers requested a continuance the day before trial to obtain counsel; the trial court denied the request and Ayers proceeded pro se to a four-day jury trial and was convicted on all counts.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals reversed, holding the trial court should have ascertained whether Ayers knowingly waived counsel.
The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, ruling that experienced criminal defense attorneys need not be given a Faretta inquiry before representing themselves.
The Sixth Circuit held the Kentucky Supreme Court’s decision was contrary to clearly established Supreme Court precedent, concluded Ayers did not validly waive his right to counsel, reversed the denial of habeas relief, and remanded with instructions to grant the writ unless Kentucky elects to retry within 90 days.

Issue	Ayers' Argument	Kentucky's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by permitting Ayers to proceed pro se without obtaining a knowing, intelligent, voluntary waiver of counsel	Ayers: He was never informed of right to counsel, never waived on record, and the court must conduct a Faretta/Tovar-type inquiry before allowing self-representation	Kentucky: Ayers was an experienced criminal defense attorney and thus effectively had counsel; no formal waiver inquiry was necessary	Court: Reversed state-court ruling; Kentucky Supreme Court acted contrary to clearly established law; Ayers did not validly waive counsel; habeas relief granted unless state retries within 90 days
Whether denial of Ayers' last-minute continuance to obtain counsel violated his Sixth Amendment right to chosen counsel	Ayers: Denial prevented him from securing counsel of choice and violated the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments	Kentucky: (Responded below; primary defense focused on waiver issue)	Court: Declined to decide because Ayers is entitled to full relief on the waiver claim

Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (requires affirmatively knowing and voluntary waiver for self-representation)
Carnley v. Cochran, 369 U.S. 506 (presumption of waiver from a silent record is impermissible; waiver must be clearly shown)
Iowa v. Tovar, 541 U.S. 77 (waiver must be knowing, voluntary, and intelligent; courts may consider defendant's background)
Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (standard for "contrary to" and "unreasonable application" under AEDPA)
Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 (courts must indulge every reasonable presumption against waiver of fundamental rights)
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (right to counsel is fundamental; overruled prior exception-based approaches)