Villarreal v. Texas · ¶58

I begin with a word about the origin and nature of the constitutional right that petitioner invokes, that is, the right to confer with his attorney during an overnight break in his testimony. Petitioner claims that the Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel includes this right. When the Sixth Amendment was adopted, however, criminal defendants could not testify in their own defense because they were not considered competent witnesses. See Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U. S. 44, 49–50 (1987). It follows that a defendant could not consult with an attorney about such testimony. Most States did not allow defendants to take the stand until well into the 19th century, see Ferguson v. Georgia, 365 U. S. 570, 576–577, and nn. 5–6 (1961), and this Court did not squarely recognize a defendant's constitutional right to testify in his own defense until its 1987 decision in Rock, 483 U. S., at…

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