Opinion ID: 2354297
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: right to control defense.

Text: Appellant asked the trial court to prohibit defense counsel from presenting any evidence of extreme emotional disturbance (EED) during the course of the trial. In response, defense counsel asked the trial judge to make a determination per Jacobs v. Commonwealth, Ky., 870 S.W.2d 412 (1994), whether Appellant was making a voluntary and intelligent waiver of his EED defense. During an ex parte hearing on the issue outside the presence of the prosecutor, Appellant articulated his position as follows: Your honor, and if I'm wrong, please quote me that I am wrong. To me, it sounds like I'm taking a guilty plea to trial. I know it's my right to present a defense of innocence, I believe, the Sixth Amendment. And ah, I talked to [defense counsel] about that continually. And I do understand the circumstances of the case before me, but that's it. Appellant's trial attorneys objected, contending that the evidence warranted an EED defense and that presenting such a defense was in Appellant's best interests, given the substantial evidence of his guilt. Defense counsel presented testimony from a clinical psychotherapist, David Kegel, who opined that Appellant was not psychotic but had certain personality limitations that prevented him from making wise choices. The trial judge granted Appellant's motion, finding that he had voluntarily and intelligently exercised his right not to present an EED defense. During voir dire, defense counsel did not mention EED as a defense but questioned jurors whether, if they convicted Appellant, they could consider EED as a mitigating circumstance in fixing a penalty. Appellant objected to any voir dire on EED as a mitigating circumstance claiming that such questioning impaired his defense of innocence even though it might be helpful to his sentence. Appellant then moved to either strike every juror who had been questioned about EED as a mitigating circumstance or to have the trial court instruct each juror that his attorney was not referring to him when asking such questions. The trial judge denied Appellant's motion, explaining that he had authorized defense counsel to question jurors about their abilities to consider mitigating circumstances during the penalty phase of the trial. At the conclusion of the guilt phase evidence, Appellant requested against the advice of defense counsel that he be permitted to make his own closing argument. The trial court denied the request as untimely and because he feared Appellant, who did not testify during the trial, would attempt during closing argument to introduce unsworn testimony about matters not in evidence and not subject to cross-examination. Defense counsel presented the guilt phase closing argument. Finally, at the conclusion of the penalty phase evidence, the trial judge ruled that defense counsel could, in his penalty phase argument, attempt to persuade the jury to mitigate Appellant's sentences because the crimes were committed while he was under the influence of EED.
Appellant claims that despite his waiver of the EED defense, the trial court erred by refusing defense counsel's tendered guilt phase instructions that would have included the absence of EED as an element of the offense of murder and an instruction on manslaughter in the first degree as a lesser included offense. The trial court refused the tendered instructions because of Appellant's prior waiver of the defense. EED is a defense to the crime of murder. Coffey v. Messer, Ky., 945 S.W.2d 944, 945-46 (1997). The whole thrust of Appellant's Jacobs argument was that he did not wish to assert EED as a defense because it would impair his defense of innocence  and the trial court found, per Jacobs , that Appellant's decision was voluntarily and intelligently made. Thus, instructing the jury on the defense of EED would have violated Appellant's right to control his defense. Furthermore, pursuant to Appellant's waiver, no evidence had been introduced that would justify the tendered instructions, i.e., no evidence of uninterrupted EED from a triggering event to the killings, Caudill, supra, at 667-68; Fields v. Commonwealth, Ky., 44 S.W.3d 355, 357-59 (2001); Springer v. Commonwealth, 998 S.W.2d at 452-53, and no evidence of a reasonable explanation or excuse for Appellant to become so enraged, inflamed, or disturbed as to cause him to kill the Porters. KRS 507.020(1); McClellan v. Commonwealth, Ky., 715 S.W.2d 464, 468-69 (1986). The trial court correctly refused to give the tendered instructions.
Encompassed within a defendant's constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel is the right to waive such assistance and proceed pro se. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 807, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2527, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975); Wake v. Barker, Ky., 514 S.W.2d 692, 697 (1974). The foundation of this entitlement is the right of the defendant to control his defense and be the pilot of the ship. Jacobs, supra, at 417-18; see also Faretta, supra, at 819-20, 95 S.Ct. at 2533 (The right to defend is given directly to the accused; for it is he who suffers the consequences if the defense fails.). In Jacobs, supra , we held that the trial court violated the defendant's right to control his own defense by permitting defense counsel, over the defendant's objection, to present an insanity defense. Id. at 417-18. Neither counsel nor the court has the power to contravene a defendant's voluntary and intelligent decision to forego an insanity defense. Id. at 418. Appellant argues that he is entitled to a new trial because this same principle should have precluded defense counsel from inquiring of prospective jurors during voir dire as to whether they could consider EED as a mitigating circumstance and arguing EED as a mitigating circumstance during the penalty phase of his trial. We disagree. The premise of Jacobs, supra , is that a defendant's constitutional right to control his defense includes the right to waive the assertion of any defense inconsistent with his claim of innocence. Id. at 418. Jacobs did not address whether that holding extended to a waiver of mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of the trial. At that point, the issue of innocence has been resolved unfavorably to the defendant and the only remaining issue is the degree of punishment to be imposed. Appellant did not object to the instruction on EED as a mitigating circumstance but only to defense counsel's assertion of it during closing argument  positions that were inherently inconsistent. The United States Supreme Court has yet to address this particular issue; however, many jurisdictions have upheld a defendant's right to voluntarily and intelligently waive the presentation of mitigating evidence. E.g., United States v. Davis, 285 F.3d 378, 381 (5th Cir.2002), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1066, 123 S.Ct. 618, 154 L.Ed.2d 555 (2002); Singleton v. Lockhart, 962 F.2d 1315, 1322 (8th Cir.1992); Silagy v. Peters, 905 F.2d 986, 1008 (7th Cir.1990); Nelson v. State, 681 So.2d 252, 255 (Ala.Crim.App.1995); People v. Bloom, 48 Cal.3d 1194, 259 Cal.Rptr. 669, 774 P.2d 698, 715 (1989); Hamblen v. State, 527 So.2d 800, 804 (Fla.1988); State v. Dunster, 262 Neb. 329, 631 N.W.2d 879, 906 (2001); Colwell v. State, 112 Nev. 807, 919 P.2d 403, 406 (1996); State v. Ashworth, 85 Ohio St.3d 56, 706 N.E.2d 1231, 1236-37 (1999); State v. Arguelles, 63 P.3d 731, 753 (Utah 2003) ([A] defendant's Sixth Amendment right to represent himself and control the course of the proceedings carries with it the right to choose how much  if any  mitigating evidence is offered.). The majority of these cases, however, were decided in the context of a convicted defendant's claim that he or she was improperly permitted to waive the right to have the jury consider mitigating circumstances. Singleton, supra, at 1321-22 (defense counsel had no obligation to override defendant's knowing and voluntary waiver of right to present mitigating evidence); Silagy, supra, at 1008 (not abuse of discretion to grant competent defendant's mid-trial motion for self-representation when purpose of motion was to forego presentation of mitigating evidence and seek the death penalty); Bloom, supra, at 713 (same); Grim v. State, 841 So.2d 455, 461 (Fla.2003) (trial court not required to appoint special counsel for purposes of presenting mitigating evidence if defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived the presentation of such evidence); Dunster, supra, at 906 (same); Colwell, supra, at 406 (same); Ashworth, supra, at 1237 ([Defendant] was competent to waive the presentation of mitigation and ... cannot now rescind that waiver and argue that he is entitled to a new penalty phase because he changed his mind.); Wallace v. State, 893 P.2d 504, 511-12 (Okla.Crim.App.1995) (affirming where defendant openly sought death penalty and chose to present no mitigating evidence). The issue has also been addressed in the context of a claim that the attorney's compliance with the defendant's knowing and voluntary decision not to present mitigating evidence amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel. Zagorski v. State, 983 S.W.2d 654, 657-59 (Tenn.1998). We find only one case holding that it was error for the trial court to permit the presentation of mitigating evidence over the defendant's objection. In United States v. Davis, supra , the defendant advised the trial court prior to the penalty phase of his trial that he wished to proceed pro se and to present no mitigating evidence, stating that he would maintain his innocence. When the trial court declined to permit that strategy, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a writ of mandamus recognizing the defendant's right to self-representation during the penalty phase. When the trial court then appointed independent counsel to present mitigating evidence on the defendant's behalf, the Court of Appeals issued a second writ prohibiting the appointment of counsel over the defendant's objection, holding that such violated the defendant's right to self-representation under Faretta . Id. at 381. Davis , is distinguishable from the case sub judice in that Appellant never asserted his right to self-representation or expressed a desire to proceed pro se. The denial of a defendant's right to self-representation is a structural error not subject to harmless error analysis. McKaskle v. Wiggins, 465 U.S. 168, 177 n. 8, 104 S.Ct. 944, 950 n. 8, 79 L.Ed.2d 122 (1984) (Since the right of self-representation is a right that when exercised usually increases the likelihood of a trial outcome unfavorable to the defendant, its denial is not amenable to `harmless error' analysis. The right is either respected or denied; its deprivation cannot be harmless.). However, the denial of the right to waive mitigating factors after a finding of guilt does not increase the likelihood of an outcome unfavorable to the defendant but rather increases the likelihood that a defendant will avoid the death penalty and receive a lesser sentence. Thus, such denial is not a structural defect affecting the framework within which the trial proceeds. Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 310, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 1265, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991); see also Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570, 577-78, 106 S.Ct. 3101, 3106, 92 L.Ed.2d 460 (1986) (structural defects are errors involving basic protections without which a criminal trial cannot reliably serve its function as a vehicle for determination of guilt or innocence  (emphasis added)). Further, the right to waive mitigating circumstances during the penalty phase of a trial is inherently different from the right to waive a defense inconsistent with a claim of innocence during the guilt phase. Although Appellant claims a reputational interest in maintaining his innocence, he fails to show how his ultimate sentence was prejudiced by counsel's argument urging the jury to impose a lesser penalty because of mitigating circumstances. Nor was Appellant's defense of innocence prejudiced by defense counsel's inquiry during voir dire as to whether prospective jurors could consider EED as a mitigating circumstance. The inquiry occurred during the death qualification of the prospective jurors, an aspect of voir dire that necessarily required the jury to hypothetically assume guilt, and was included within defense counsel's inquiry with respect to the attitudes of prospective jurors with respect to various mitigating circumstances. Defense counsel did not assert during voir dire that Appellant committed the offenses while acting under the influence of EED but only inquired whether the jurors could consider EED as a mitigating circumstance in the event of a finding of guilt.
Wake v. Barker, supra , holds that a defendant may make a limited waiver of counsel, specifying the extent of services he desires. Id. at 696. If the defendant makes such waiver knowingly and voluntarily, counsel's duties are confined to rendering the specified kind of services (within, of course, the normal scope of counsel services). Id. However, a defendant who wishes to waive his constitutional right to counsel (or, as here, make a limited waiver) must do so in a timely manner so as not to cause a delay in the proceedings. Robards v. Rees, 789 F.2d 379, 383-84 (6th Cir.1986). See also Faretta, supra, at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541 (defendant clearly and unequivocally made his request to forego counsel weeks before trial); United States v. McKenna, 327 F.3d 830, 844 (9th Cir.2003) (A demand for self-representation is timely if made before meaningful trial proceedings have begun.... [A] request is timely if made before the jury is selected or before the jury is empaneled.... (Quotation omitted.)); United States v. Young, 287 F.3d 1352, 1354-55 (11th Cir.2002) (defendant's request to proceed pro se properly denied when request was made after jury selection). The trial court may, of course, grant an untimely request but that is a decision lying within its sound discretion. Robards, supra, at 384. Here, Appellant did not request to make his own closing argument until the conclusion of the guilt phase of the trial. He never specifically asserted his right to self-representation or to proceed pro se. He simply expressed a desire to make his own closing argument. Further, since Appellant had not testified during the trial, the trial judge was legitimately concerned that he might use his closing argument to present unsworn testimony. See Garrett v. Commonwealth, Ky., 48 S.W.3d 6, 16 (2001) (closing argument may not be used to argue facts that are not in evidence or reasonably inferable from the evidence (citations omitted)). The denial of Appellant's belated request to make his own closing argument was not an abuse of discretion.