Opinion ID: 1785608
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: allegations of pretrial error

Text: Owsley first claims that the trial court erred in denying his several motions to dismiss counsel and substitute new counsel. The motions were based on alleged irreconcilable conflict between Owsley and his lawyer. Denial of the motions, Owsley explains, deprived him of his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel. Alternatively, Owsley claims that at minimum, substitute counsel should have been appointed for the October 17, 1994, hearing on the motion to dismiss counsel because Owsley's counsel actively opposed some of the factual allegations in the motion. A trial court's ruling on a motion to dismiss counsel is a legitimate exercise of its discretion and will not be disturbed on appeal unless there is clear abuse of discretion, State v. Hornbuckle, 769 S.W.2d 89, 96 (Mo. banc 1989), and the appellate court will indulge every intendment in favor of the trial court. Id. To prevail on a claim of irreconcilable differences with counsel, the defendant must produce objective evidence of a `total breakdown in communication.' State v. Parker, 886 S.W.2d 908, 929 (Mo. banc 1994), citing Hornbuckle, 769 S.W.2d at 96. Proof of a total breakdown in communication is established, according to Owsley, not only by the interaction between the two, but also by counsel's statements to others and counsel's ineffective assistance throughout the proceedings. The colorable claims within the wide array of counsel's alleged misconduct includes: failing to furnish Owsley with copies of the police reports, to meet and consult with him, and to discuss his defense; failing to pursue all of the investigation that Owsley requested; speaking condescendingly to Owsley; breaching the attorney-client privilege by telling another client about Owsley's case and characterizing Mr. Owsley as a liar; calling Owsley a pain in the ass; commenting to a newspaper and on radio that death penalty cases are not processed as expeditiously as they should be; commenting in an objection to the prosecution's voir dire questions about prior criminal experiences that if he did the same, we will be here for two weeks; telling the venire panel that [w]e're not drinking, playing cards and drinking rum, which we would rather being [sic] doing; asking a venire panel member whether he could consider both life imprisonment and death if Owsley were found guilty; stating to the venire panel that I don't like [experts] personally, even though he intended to rely on one. None of Owsley's claims are well taken. To the extent that the irreconcilable differences were born of counsel's alleged misconduct at trial, Owsley's remedy was to present the claims in a properly filed Rule 29.15 motion. Obviously, the trial court should not be expected to discharge and replace counsel during the course of the trial itself. The one other claim cognizable in a post-conviction relief action is counsel's alleged failure to fully investigate the case. This matter was fully addressed by the trial court during one of the pretrial hearings on Owsley's motion to discharge counsel. After considering Owsley's position, the court concluded that the information Owsley sought to investigate was irrelevant to the issues in the case and then warned Owsley that he would waste his counsel's time for legitimate trial preparation if he continued to send him on wild goose chases. From our review of the record, the court was correct in this determination. The claims that relate more directly to a breakdown in communication are also insufficient to establish irreconcilable conflict. From the motion hearings before the court and on the face of the motions themselves, Owsley made it clear that he was in fact still communicating with his lawyer. The essence of his complaints, instead, was that he simply was not pleased with the tone and content of his lawyer's comments and criticism. As the court found after allowing Owsley to fully air his concerns, the comments and criticisms to which Owsley objected, and his resulting displeasure, was the product of Owsley's own uncooperativeness with his lawyer. Owsley is not permitted to generate an irreconcilable conflict through his own misconduct. See Hornbuckle, 769 S.W.2d at 97. Even though Owsley himself was the cause of the problem, the court nonetheless took the exemplary step to alleviate the stress of the situation by appointing co-counsel to assist in Owsley's defense. Having provided Owsley co-counsel with whom Owsley could presumably communicate, the court did all and more than was required. The point is denied. Owsley's alternative claim that he was effectively unrepresented at the October 17, 1994, hearing on his motion to discharge his lawyer, fares no better. During the hearing, Owsley presented his lengthy handwritten motion to his lawyer who read it to the court, after which Owsley himself addressed the court at length. When Owsley had finished, his lawyer contested some of the allegations Owsley had made about him and their interaction in preparing for trial. When a dispute of this sort arises, it is the court's responsibility to inquire into the matter, and the defendant's lack of legal training is immaterial. United States v. Blum, 65 F.3d 1436, 1441 (8th Cir.1995). Moreover, the defendant Owsley in this case has not shown how he was prejudiced. From our review of the record, it is clear that Owsley made all the points he sought to make on the question of irreconcilable conflict, and he does not claim otherwise. By conducting a full hearing on the matter to inquire about the allegations, Owsley's interests were sufficiently protected.
Owsley also claims that the trial court erred in denying his numerous motions to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. Owsley was arrested and placed in jail on April 22, 1993, but was not brought to trial until October 18, 1994, roughly eighteen months later. This delay, he contends, violates speedy trial guarantees under the United States and Missouri Constitutions as well as sections 545.780, 545.890, and 217.460, RSMo 1994. The United States Supreme Court mandates a balancing of four factors when determining whether a defendant's constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 533, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2193-94, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972). The factors include the [l]ength of delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant's assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant. Barker, 407 U.S. at 530, 92 S.Ct. at 2191-92. In this case, the dispositive factors are those pertaining to the reason for the delay and the prejudice to the defendant. The eighteen month delay was mostly attributable to the various actions taken by defendant or on his behalf, which included requests for a continuance, a second medical examination by various other experts, a change of judge, and additional counsel. The only delays attributable to the State resulted from its requests for the initial competency exam and extension of time for the exam to be completed. The State in no way attempted to delay the trial, while in contrast, a great deal of time was spent handling Owsley's motions. For these reasons alone there is no constitutional violation. The prejudice factor also weighs against the defendant. To establish prejudice, Owsley states that the eighteen month delay between arrest and trial precipitated the need for [counsel] to request a mental examination... [that] was then necessary because Mr. Owsley had expressed the desire to plead guilty and be sentenced to death. He also maintains that the delay caused him to become despondent. Despite these developments, Owsley does not demonstrate how they affected the trial and disposition of his case, and from our review of the record, we find that no prejudice resulted. In addition, Owsley claims that the lengthy delay exacerbated the tension between his counsel and him, which then culminated in the irreconcilable conflict. Having determined that there was no irreconcilable conflict, this point is meritless. In sum, Owsley's failure to show prejudice also defeats his claim of a constitutional violation. Reliance on sections 545.780 and 545.890Missouri's speedy trial statutesis also meritless. Application of section 545.780 is dependent on the finding of a constitutional violation. Because we have already found that Owsley was not denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial, the statute provides him no relief. Section 545.890 does not apply if the delay shall happen on the application of the prisoner. Sec. 545.890. Because the delay in this case was largely due to actions taken by Owsley, this section affords him no relief either. In a final point, Owsley argues that section 217.460 requires that a case be brought to trial within 180 days. This section is a part of the Uniform Mandatory Disposition of Detainers Law that applies to intrastate detainers. As discussed above, Owsley was responsible for nearly all of the delays. The delays that he caused tolled the 180 day requirement. See State ex rel. Clark v. Long, 870 S.W.2d 932, 940-42 (Mo.App. 1994); Smith, 686 S.W.2d at 547-48. Point denied.
Owsley next asserts that the trial court erred when it denied both a motion to suppress and a motion to reconsider suppressing his confession on grounds that his confession was involuntary. Specifically, Owsley claims that he only implicated himself after the police interrogating him promised not to seek the death penalty. A confession that becomes part of the basis of a conviction must be voluntary or else the defendant is denied due process. Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 376, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 1780, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964). It is the State's obligation to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a confession was voluntarily given. State v. Feltrop, 803 S.W.2d 1, 12 (Mo. banc 1991). The test of voluntariness is whether, under the totality of the circumstances, the defendant was deprived of a free choice to admit, to deny, or to refuse to answer, and whether physical or psychological coercion was of such a degree that defendant's will was overborne at the time he confessed. State v. Lytle, 715 S.W.2d 910, 915 (Mo. banc 1986). Review of a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress is to determine only if the decision was supported by substantial evidence, Feltrop, 803 S.W.2d at 12, and [t]hat there is evidence from which the trial court could have arrived at a contrary conclusion is immaterial. Id. The record in this case shows that five peopleOwsley, his mother, the prosecuting attorney, and the two police officers who questioned Owsleytestified at the suppression hearings. The prosecuting attorney and the police officers all testified that they made no offer of leniency and that they never stated that the death penalty had been waived. This testimony, regardless of evidence to the contrary, was substantial evidence that amply supported the court's finding that no offers had been made to induce Owsley's confession. Therefore, the trial court did not err when it overruled Owsley's motion to suppress.