412
Blackmun, J., dissenting
for and against the proposed action. Did you do that?" This time, Moran responded: "Yes." Ibid.
It was only after prodding Moran through the plea colloquy in this manner that the trial judge concluded that he was competent to stand trial and that he voluntarily and intelligently had waived his right to counsel. Accordingly, Moran was allowed to plead guilty and appear without counsel at his sentencing hearing. Moran presented no defense, called no witness, and offered no mitigating evidence on his own behalf. Not surprisingly, he was sentenced to death.
II
It is axiomatic by now that criminal prosecution of an incompetent defendant offends the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See Medina v. California, 505 U. S. 437 (1992); Riggins v. Nevada, 504 U. S. 127, 138 (1992) (Kennedy, J., concurring); Drope v. Missouri, 420 U. S. 162, 171 (1975); Pate v. Robinson, 383 U. S. 375, 378 (1966). The majority does not deny this principle, nor does it dispute the standard that has been set for competence to stand trial with the assistance of counsel: whether the accused possesses "the capacity to understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him, to consult with counsel, and to assist in preparing his defense." Drope, 420 U. S., at 171. Accord, Dusky v. United States, 362 U. S. 402 (1960). My disagreement with the majority turns, then, upon another standard— the one for assessing a defendant's competence to waive counsel and represent himself.
The majority "reject[s] the notion that competence to plead guilty or to waive the right to counsel must be measured by a standard that is higher than (or even different from)" the standard for competence to stand trial articulated in Dusky and Drope. Ante, at 398. But the standard for competence to stand trial is specifically designed to measure a defendant's ability to "consult with counsel" and to "assist in preparing his defense." A finding that a defendant is
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