Opinion ID: 1752541
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: penalty phase continuance

Text: Appellant asserts that the trial court erred in not granting a continuance to prepare for the penalty phase. At noon on December 10, 1990, the jury retired to deliberate on the guilt phase. The court took a ten minute recess after which appellant notified the court that, if convicted, he wanted standby counsel to represent him at the penalty phase. Counselor McClain orally requested a continuance of the penalty phase until 1:00 p.m. the following day. The court denied the request, but stated that it would continue the penalty phase until 9:00 a.m. the next morning. The jury returned a guilty verdict at 2:15 p.m. that afternoon and the penalty phase commenced at 10:30 a.m. the following morning. The decision to grant or deny a continuance is committed to a trial court's sound discretion. State v. Schaal, 806 S.W.2d 659, 666 (Mo. banc 1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 976, 117 L.Ed.2d 140 (1992). Lack of preparation does not constitute grounds for granting a continuance where a party had adequate opportunity to prepare. Id. Appellant's argument that standby counsel had less than one day to prepare for the penalty phase mistakenly assumes that penalty phase preparation cannot begin until the guilt phase is concluded. Furthermore, a pro se defendant cannot generate cause for granting a continuance by shifting responsibility to standby counsel at the last minute. See State v. Barton, 593 S.W.2d 262, 264 n. 2 (Mo.App.1980) (holding that pro se defendants are bound by the same rules of procedure as those admitted to practice law and entitled to no indulgence they would not have received if they were represented by counsel); Richardson v. State, 773 S.W.2d 858, 859 (Mo.App.1989) (stating that it is axiomatic that a defendant may not take advantage of self-invited error or error of his own making). The court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to grant a continuance.