Cite as: 509 U. S. 389 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
Cal J. Potter III, by appointment of the Court, 506 U. S. 1046, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief was Edward M. Chikofsky.*
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents the question whether the competency standard for pleading guilty or waiving the right to counsel is higher than the competency standard for standing trial. We hold that it is not.
I
On August 2, 1984, in the early hours of the morning, respondent entered the Red Pearl Saloon in Las Vegas, Nevada, and shot the bartender and a patron four times each with an automatic pistol. He then walked behind the bar and removed the cash register. Nine days later, respondent arrived at the apartment of his former wife and opened fire on her; five of his seven shots hit their target. Respondent then shot himself in the abdomen and attempted, without success, to slit his wrists. Of the four victims of respondent's gunshots, only respondent himself survived. On August 13, respondent summoned police to his hospital bed and confessed to the killings.
After respondent pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, the trial court ordered that he be examined by a pair of psychiatrists, both of whom concluded that he was competent to stand trial.1 The State thereafter an-*Kent S. Scheidegger and Charles L. Hobson filed a brief for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation as amicus curiae urging reversal.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the American Civil Liberties Union et al. by Steven R. Shapiro, Diann Y. Rust-Tierney, John A. Powell, and Bruce J. Winick; for the American Psychiatric Association et al. by James W. Ellis and Barbara E. Bergman; and for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers by Jon May.
1 One of the psychiatrists stated that there was "not the slightest doubt" that respondent was "in full control of his faculties" insofar as he had the "ability to aid counsel, assist in his own defense, recall evidence and . . .
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