Opinion ID: 524692
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Accused's Right to Self-Representation

Text: 16 Appellant's principal contention, that he was denied his constitutional right to serve as his own counsel, provides the basis for his claim that he received ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. As a preliminary matter, we must address appellee's assertion that petitioner is barred from presenting his self-representation claim on collateral review because he did not raise the claim on direct appeal from his conviction, which constituted a state procedural default. 17 A defendant who has failed to comply with a state's procedural rules is barred from obtaining federal habeas review of his defaulted constitutional claim, unless petitioner shows cause for the procedural default and prejudice attributable to the default. Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977). The cause and prejudice test applies to procedural defaults on appeal as well as to those at trial. See Reed v. Ross, 468 U.S. 1, 9, 104 S.Ct. 2901, 2906, 82 L.Ed.2d 1 (1984). 18 Here, the procedural default was the result of appellate counsel's failure to raise the issue of Orazio's request to proceed pro se. A defendant bears the risk of attorney error that results in a procedural default, unless the defendant is represented by counsel whose performance is constitutionally ineffective, under the standard of Strickland v. Washington, supra. Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 488, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 2645, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986). Ineffective assistance of counsel ... is cause for a procedural default. Id. However, a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel must first be presented as an independent state claim and exhausted in the state courts, before the claim may be used on federal habeas review to show cause. Id. at 489, 106 S.Ct. at 2646. 19 Petitioner here has presented his ineffectiveness claim independently and exhausted it in the state courts. As discussed below, petitioner was denied effective assistance of counsel. Furthermore, given the nature of the constitutional right involved--the right to proceed in one's own defense--a denial of the opportunity to obtain review of that claim is necessarily prejudicial. See Dorman v. Wainwright, 798 F.2d 1358, 1370 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 951, 107 S.Ct. 1616, 94 L.Ed.2d 801 (1987). Petitioner is not, therefore, procedurally barred from collaterally attacking in the federal court the denial of his right to proceed pro se. We move on to the merits of this claim. 20 A defendant in a state criminal trial has a right under the sixth and fourteenth amendments to proceed without counsel. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975). In order for this right to attach, a defendant must voluntarily elect self-representation, by knowingly and intelligently waiving the reciprocal, constitutionally protected right to the assistance of counsel. Id. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541; Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938). A defendant need not be technically competent in the law to act in his or her own defense but must be competent to make the choice to proceed pro se. A defendant should be made aware of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation so that the defendant knows what he is doing and [the] choice is made with eyes open. Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541 (quoting Adams v. United States ex rel. McCann, 317 U.S. 269, 279, 63 S.Ct. 236, 241, 87 L.Ed. 268 (1942)). If a deprivation of the right to represent oneself is found, the doctrine of harmless error does not apply because, unlike many other constitutional rights, this right is not result-oriented. Chapman v. United States, 553 F.2d 886, 891 (5th Cir.1977). 21 Here, we conclude that Orazio clearly and unequivocally asserted his desire to represent himself. 2 The state trial court explained to Orazio the disadvantages of representing himself but, because the judge considered Orazio unequipped to meet the challenges of the charges against him, he denied Orazio's request. The trial court's consideration of Orazio's legal prowess contravened the Supreme Court's decision in Faretta. So long as Orazio voluntarily exercised his informed free will, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541, his technical legal knowledge bore no relevance on his right to represent himself. Id. at 836, 95 S.Ct. at 2541. 22 In the federal habeas proceeding, the district court found that, even assuming that Orazio sufficiently asserted his constitutional right to self-representation, he subsequently waived that right, because he never repeated his request, and he permitted counsel to represent him without demonstrating displeasure with the appointed attorney. We believe the district court erred. 23 Petitioner's request to represent himself was denied. By failing to repeat his desire to represent himself, petitioner did not vacillate on the issue. See Chapman, 553 F.2d at 893 n. 12. He did not abandon his initial request, either. Brown v. Wainwright, 665 F.2d 607, 611 (5th Cir.1982). Orazio is unlike the petitioner in Brown, who, before the court even denied his motion for self-representation, asked counsel to represent him. Orazio acquiesced in being represented by counsel because his request to defend himself had already been denied. To avoid a waiver of a previously-invoked right to self-representation, a defendant is not required continually to renew a request once it is conclusively denied or to make fruitless motions or forego cooperation with defense counsel in order to preserve the issue on appeal. Dorman v. Wainwright, 798 F.2d at 1367 (quoting Brown, 665 F.2d at 612). Moreover, in Brown, defense counsel represented to the court that he and defendant had resolved their differences. 665 F.2d at 611. Here, the court's finding of a subsequent waiver by defendant is unsupported by such conduct and statements of the defendant and counsel. 24 Orazio is also unlike the petitioner in Raulerson v. Wainwright, 732 F.2d 803 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 966, 105 S.Ct. 366, 83 L.Ed.2d 302 (1984), who had been granted the right to act as co-counsel in his defense. The court took away that right and, after defendant finally renewed his request, he voluntarily walked out of the courtroom in the middle of a hearing on the matter, clearly waiving his right to appear pro se. Id. at 808-809. Orazio had no reason to repeat his initial request; it was denied, not granted and revoked. Nothing in the record indicates that petitioner ever abandoned by conduct or otherwise his initial request to represent himself. The district court's finding is, therefore, clearly erroneous.