CHIPLEY — An inmate facing a first-degree murder charge has had a change of heart regarding his request to the court last month to represent himself.
Clinton L. Powers, who is currently being held in the Santa Rosa Correction Institute, was indicted by a grand jury in September for the July 2011 murder of a fellow inmate at the Northwest Florida Reception Center, Washington County’s state prison in Greenhead.
Powers told a Washington County court last month he didn’t believe he was receiving adequate service from his attorney and requested that he be allowed to represent himself on the case.
A hearing was held on the matter last week, at which Powers rescinded his request and agreed to representation by the public defender’s office. The state is seeking the death penalty in the case.
Powers’ case is expected to go to trial as early as late January.
Powers’ convictions and prison history include a five-year sentence for sexual battery, an 18-month sentence for escape and a life sentence for a 1996 first-degree murder conviction in Jackson County.