State v. Hightower

Summary

The court held that defendant was entitled to a new trial because the trial court could not determine that the record would have developed materially the same way if it had properly exercised discretion over defendant's midtrial request for self-representation. The court explained that reversal necessarily reflected an appellate determination that the error was not harmless, and that the trial court on remand had to consider both the appellate court's instructions and the potential effect of the error on the development of the record. The court affirmed the Court of Appeals, reversed the circuit court, and remanded for further proceedings.