Opinion ID: 2486429
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: McCRAY's Self-Representation

Text: We next address McCRAY's contention that the trial court failed to comply with the procedures the United States Supreme Court set forth in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), during five different stages of the proceedings. [6] In direct contrast to the previous competency claim, in which appellate counsel asserts that McCRAY was incompetent to proceed with trial due to mental illness, in this series of claims, counsel alleges error in the denial of McCRAY's five requests to represent himself. Specifically, McCRAY argues: (1) the trial court failed to conduct an inquiry pursuant to Faretta after McCRAY's request for self-representation during the August 22, 2008, competency hearing; (2) the trial court's Faretta inquiry following McCRAY's request for self-representation raised in the middle of the State's opening statement was constitutionally inadequate; (3) the trial court's Faretta inquiry following McCRAY's third request during the direct examination of the State's first witness was also inadequate, and the trial court unconstitutionally imposed counsel upon him following that request; (4) the trial court failed to conduct a Faretta inquiry following McCRAY's pro se request submitted through defense counsel after the State's second witness testified; and (5) the trial court abused its discretion by allowing McCRAY to conduct his own penalty-phase closing argument absent a proper Faretta inquiry. We first discuss the legal standard applicable to requests for self-representation and then apply that standard to each subclaim. Under the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Faretta, an accused has the right to self-representation at trial. A defendant's choice to invoke this right `must be honored out of that respect for the individual which is the lifeblood of the law.' Tennis v. State, 997 So.2d 375, 377-78 (Fla.2008) (quoting Faretta, 422 U.S. at 834, 95 S.Ct. 2525); see also Pasha v. State, 39 So.3d 1259, 1261 (Fla.2010). [T]he Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments include a `constitutional right to proceed without counsel when' a criminal defendant `voluntarily and intelligently elects to do so.' Indiana v. Edwards, 554 U.S. 164, 170, 128 S.Ct. 2379, 171 L.Ed.2d 345 (2008) (quoting Faretta, 422 U.S. at 807, 95 S.Ct. 2525). As this Court has explained, [b]efore the trial court can make a decision whether to permit the defendant to proceed pro se, the defendant's request for self-representation must be unequivocal. Tennis, 997 So.2d at 378 (citing State v. Craft, 685 So.2d 1292, 1295 (Fla.1996)). Moreover, once a defendant elects to make an unequivocal request for self-representation, pursuant to Faretta and this Court's precedent, the trial court is obligated to hold a hearing to determine whether the defendant is knowingly and intelligently waiving his right to court-appointed counsel. Id. (citing Hardwick v. State, 521 So.2d 1071, 1074 (Fla.1988)). When reviewing a trial court's handling of a request for self-representation, the standard of review is abuse of discretion. Aguirre-Jarquin v. State, 9 So.3d 593, 602 (Fla.2009). That being said, a trial court's failure to take the preliminary step of holding a hearing on a defendant's unequivocal pro se request results in per se reversible error. Tennis, 997 So.2d at 379.