dissenting.
I would affirm. The record of this trial will not justify this worthless and burdensome procedure.
After the prior experience over the defendant’s representation, the district judge is faulted for not conducting a hearing when the defendant writes a letter saying he wants more time with a lawyer. Then the court here sends the case back for a hearing about what he could (or should) have done despite now knowing that justice was served by retained counsel continuing to represent the defendant without any question or objection from anyone. That unnecessarily burdens this judge and impairs the work of other trial judges who serve justice but need not respond in full every time a defendant writes a letter.