A defendant’s motion to represent himself must be granted if he is mentally competent and makes his request knowingly and intelligently, having been apprised of the dangers of self-representation; the request is made unequivocally; and the request is made a reasonable time before trial. (Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806; People v. Welch (1999) 20 Cal.4th 701 [overruled on other grounds].) The court must evaluate the request as to whether it is unequivocally made or equivocal, insincere, or the transitory product of emotion. After a defendant invokes a right to self-representation, a waiver then can be found if it reasonably appears that he has abandoned the request. The denial of self-representation at the preliminary hearing is subject to harmless error analysis. (Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18.)