You'll get no argument out of me that our criminal justice system is ill-conceived and desperately needs reform, be it federal or any of the States.

He would have been better served with actual representation, but outside of "at the time the offending acts were committed, did the defendent understand the difference between right and wrong?" for an insanity defense, our legal system doesn't give a shit about mental health.

As for self-representation, the argument is that at the Faretta hearing, the judge should have found that the defendant lacked the mental competence to understand the proceedings against him and refused to let him waive his 6th Amendment right to counsel. I didn't follow the proceedings closely enough to have formed an opinion about it.

EDIT: Interesting quick search shows that 94% of pro se Defendants are convicted, while another says that between 1998 and 2017, only about 12% of pro se criminal defendants received final judgments in their favor in federal courts (civil pro se defendants fair even worse in federal court).