[1] Carl Edwin Wiggins was on trial for robbery and chose to proceed pro se and was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

[1] When Wiggins had exhausted both direct appellate and state habeas corpus, he filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court, claiming that standby counsel's conduct deprived him of his constitutional right to conduct his own defense as guaranteed in Faretta v. California (1975).

The federal court agreed that counsel should not interfere without permission but found that Wiggins' attorneys had not interfered and the appeal was dismissed.

"[1] Judge Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice Burger, Powell, Rehnquist, and Stevens joined.

The decision was based on federal and state laws preserving a defendant's right to self-representation as guaranteed in Faretta.