Opinion ID: 1464772
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Hold Hearing on Counsel's Performance

Text: Appellant next argues that the trial court failed to hold a proper hearing on his counsel's inadequate performance. After the prosecutor had presented her case, but before Appellant had started to present his, Appellant declared that he was firing his attorneys. The trial court spoke to Appellant about his right to proceed pro se, the risks of proceeding pro se, and his complaints about his trial counsel. Appellant explained that his complaint was that his counsel was refusing to call certain witnesses on his behalf. The trial court explained that some of the testimony would be inadmissible; Appellant's counsel explained that he had tactical reasons for not calling others. The trial court ultimately gave Appellant some time to think about his decision to fire his attorneys and gave him the opportunity to make a phone call. When Appellant returned, he decided to keep his attorneys. The trial court has an affirmative duty to inquire into the source and nature of a criminal defendant's expressed dissatisfaction with counsel. Benitez v. United States, 521 F.3d 625, 634 (6th Cir.2008). However, a searching inquiry is not required unless the defendant raises some substantial basis for dissatisfaction. Monroe v. United States, 389 A.2d 811, 820 (D.C.App.1978). The nature and scope of the inquiry is not rigid. Instead, the necessary scope depends on the circumstances of each case. Id. at 821. Whatever the inquiry requires, though, it must be sufficient to elicit whether counsel has both the ability and the preparedness to effectively assist the defendant. Id. Here, the trial judge sufficiently elicited that counsel had the ability to effectively assist Appellant. In their conversation, the trial judge told Appellant that one of the two of his attorneys had twenty-one years of experience, including in murder trials, and that he was representing Appellant to the best of his ability. The judge also questioned how Appellant could represent himself better than his attorneys, given their different levels of experience. The record of the above conversation shows that the trial judge was convinced that counsel had the ability to effectively assist Appellant, and nothing was revealed to the contrary. Indeed, Appellant's complaint was not one of ability, but one of tactics. In particular, he complained that his counsel was refusing to call certain witnesses. Appellant said he wished to call the expert witness to testify as to his extreme emotional disturbance; the trial court explained, however, that it would not allow the expert to testify without evidence of the triggering event, based on its prior ruling. Appellant also read a list of witnesses he wished to subpoena. His counsel stated that he did not plan to call the people on Appellant's list, based on an investigator's interviews and contacts with them. Apparently, Appellant wanted some of the witnesses to testify to subjects that would open the door to evidence of his history of domestic violence against Susan, which had not yet been introduced. And some of the other witnesses would contradict Appellant's theory, or otherwise testify contrary to his expectations. Counsel was not unprepared, but was simply making reasonable tactical decisions with which Appellant disagreed. Accordingly, the record shows that the trial court elicited that counsel was both able and prepared to effectively assist Appellant, despite Appellant's tactical disagreements with him. There was no error.