Opinion ID: 1659158
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Voluntariness of the Waiver of Counsel

Text: At a hearing on pretrial motions on July 17, 1989, the trial judge was informed that defense counsel and defendant did not see eye to eye on how to proceed. Defense counsel wanted to proceed on the motions in preparation for trial. Defendant informed the trial judge he had been trying to plead guilty from day one but had been dissuaded by his attorney pending the outcome of the psychiatric evaluation, which defendant considered to be a joke. If the lawyer was going to press for a trial, defendant stated, [T]hen I'll have to get another lawyer. The trial judge decided to allow additional time to permit defendant and his attorney to reconcile their differences and for defendant to talk with family, friends, or clergy. The court also offered to obtain a psychiatrist to visit with defendant before a plea of guilty would be taken up, although the trial judge believed defendant to be acting rationally. Defendant declined further evaluations, saying he just wanted to get this [ ] over with. On July 21, 1989, defendant again appeared before the trial judge. Again, after confirming a difference of opinion between defendant and his attorney, Donald Catlett, as to whether to plead guilty, the trial judge asked, [D]o you want to fire Mr. Catlett? Further discussion ensued, which included the following: THE COURT: Now, do you want to waive the right to have an attorney represent you in this matter, and represent yourself? DEFENDANT HUNTER: That would be fine. That would be faster. THE COURT: Now, you understand that's fraught with peril? I've never knownwell DEFENDANT HUNTER: My life is fraught with peril. That's no problem. I somewhat understand it. THE COURT: So you're telling me that you wish to waive your right to have an attorney present with you at this time? DEFENDANT HUNTER: Right. .... THE COURT: I want you to understand another thing. You aren't really going to say what happens to you. If I accept your plea, I'm the one that's going to determine what happens to you. DEFENDANT HUNTER: I understand that, too. THE COURT: All right. And you understand that I have sentenced people to death before? DEFENDANT HUNTER: Oh, you should. THE COURT: Well, and it doesn't bother me in the least. You understand that? DEFENDANT HUNTER: Nor me, either. THE COURT: All right. Mr. Catlett, I'm going to allow him to represent himself. And I want you present in case he has any questions that I'm not covering that he may discuss with you. You're not going to be bound by what he does here. The court then engaged in an extensive inquiry to determine if the defendant's decision to proceed against the advice of counsel and to plead guilty was voluntary, intelligent, and knowing. Defendant makes two primary complaints regarding the waiver of counsel. The first is that the waiver of counsel is inadequate to conform with the due process requirements of the United States Constitution as set out in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975). The second complaint is that the court failed to obtain a written waiver of counsel, as required by § 600.051.
For a waiver of counsel to be effective, due process requires that the waiver be made knowingly and intelligently. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541; Wilkins v. State, 802 S.W.2d 491, 501 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 131, 116 L.Ed.2d 98 (1991). A waiver of counsel may be less than a full waiver, as occurred here, where defendant is provided standby or hybrid counsel. Faretta, 422 U.S. at 834, n. 46, 95 S.Ct. at 2541, n. 46. Defendant directs our attention to several factors which, he argues, demonstrate that his waiver of counsel was ineffective. He first claims that Judge Kinder's question, Do you want to fire [defense counsel]? was, in effect, an effort to goad defendant into waiving counsel. However, that question cannot be read in isolation from the rest of the record. Both at the hearing on July 17 and at the July 21 hearing, where defendant was permitted to proceed pro se, Judge Kinder repeatedly encouraged defendant to reconcile his differences with defense counsel and follow counsel's advice. Judge Kinder delayed the plea of guilty hearing for the purpose of giving the defendant the opportunity to further confer with counsel. Judge Kinder proceeded only after confirming that the disagreement between counsel and defendant had been one of long standing and that defendant had wanted to plead guilty from day one and had not done so only because counsel urged that he first undergo a psychiatric examination. At the July 21 hearing the judge again asked if any delay for discussions would help reconcile defendant and his lawyer as to how to proceed. The response was that further discussions would be futile. The conclusion that Judge Kinder's single comment had the effect of goading defendant to waive counsel is not supported by a fair reading of the entire record. Defendant also asserts that Judge Kinder failed to engage in a thorough examination of defendant to ensure the waiver of counsel was knowing and intelligent. In support of that, the brief argues that the post-conviction court and this Court may only consider matters inquired into prior to the time Judge Kinder said, I'm going to allow him to represent himself. The argument fails to acknowledge the obvious fact that at any time up until the plea of guilty was finally accepted, defendant could have asked for and received full representation without prejudicial effect. The argument that a motion court may not consider the whole record before it at the hearing on the day the waiver of counsel occurred is unsupported by precedent or sound reason. The test for determining if the waiver is made intelligently and knowingly depends on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding the case, including the background, experience, and conduct of the accused. Wilkins v. State, 802 S.W.2d at 501. Defendant's knowledge of all relevant facts need not appear in the trial record to support a finding that the waiver of counsel was proper. State v. Gilmore, 697 S.W.2d 172, 174-75 (Mo. banc 1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1178, 106 S.Ct. 2906, 90 L.Ed.2d 992 (1986). To limit the focus of the inquiry to what a defendant said just before the waiver of counsel was permitted would forbid the broad inquiry necessary to a fair assessment of whether defendant knew and appreciated what he was doing when he waived his right to counsel. The claim is rejected. Defendant also asserts that Judge Kinder failed to engage in a thorough examination of defendant to ensure the waiver of counsel was knowing and intelligent. Again, defendant relies on an isolated question and answer to support this contention. The particular response occurred when defendant stated he somewhat understood that representing himself was fraught with peril. Again, if that constituted the entire record, the argument might be persuasive. However, the record we consider in determining if there was a valid waiver of counsel and plea of guilty involved hearings on two separate dates, a transcript of over 100 pages, and the psychiatric and psychological reports that are before us. In the course of reading these records it is apparent that defendant at all times understood the charges and the range of punishment, that he understood his right to representation at all critical stages and did not desire to be represented by counsel at the guilty plea proceeding. He was informed of lesser included offenses and the possibility of punishment for those offenses, possible defenses and other facts having a bearing on the admissibility of his own statements and on the essential mental states for a determination of guilt. He understood his right to jury trial at both the guilt and punishment phases. He also knew and understood that a reasonable likelihood existed that he would receive the death penalty or life imprisonment if he pled guilty or was found guilty, and that no promises made by any other officials were binding on the judge. Clearly, the defendant understood the judge, the right being waived, the choices being made, and had the capacity to think logically at the time he waived counsel. Incident to these claims, defendant argues that the plea was not voluntary because trial counsel had not informed defendant of the State's evidence, an autopsy report that Richard Hodges was strangled around the neck, and the fact that some hair samples at the scene matched neither defendant nor Thomas Ervin. Hunter admitted during the plea hearing that during the struggle he may have had his hands around the neck of Richard Hodges. There is no indication that if defendant would have known about either of these items of evidence he would not have pled guilty. Defendant also takes issue with the motion court's reliance on defendant's experience in the criminal justice system dating back to the 1960's, claiming that Judge Kinder had none of that evidence before him. The claim is simply unsupported by the record. At the hearing on July 21, 1989, defendant brought to Judge Kinder's attention the fact that he had a prior felony conviction. Defendant admitted he had been involved with the criminal justice system on several prior occasions. In addition, in count III of the indictment to which defendant pled guilty, he was charged as a persistent offender for having four prior convictions of felonies. While not conclusive on the question of defendant's knowledge of a right to counsel, prior contact with the criminal justice system is certainly a factor that Judge Kinder and Judge McHenry, the post-conviction judge, could consider in reaching their conclusions regarding whether the waiver was made knowingly and intelligently. In sum, the trial court did not err and the motion court's judgment was not clearly erroneous in concluding that the waiver of counsel was made knowingly and intelligently.
Defendant argues vigorously that reversal is required because Judge Kinder failed to obtain a written waiver of counsel as is required by § 600.051. A preliminary question is whether the issue has been properly preserved. Defendant was fully represented at all relevant court proceedings both before and after the plea of guilty. In defendant's motion to withdraw the guilty plea filed October 18, 1989, no mention was made of the absence of a written waiver of counsel or of § 600.051. During the hearing on motions on November 7, 1989, and at the sentencing phase trial on February 15, 1990, no mention was made of the absence of a written waiver. The first mention of § 600.051 was in defendant's motion for post-conviction relief, where defendant claims the trial court violated that statute by failing to have him sign a waiver of counsel. No explanation was given as to why that issue was not raised before the original trial judge. In addition, the Rule 24.035 motion made no claim that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the absence of a written waiver of counsel. The claim that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the § 600.051 claim appears for the first time in the brief on appeal. In a capital case this Court is required to review all errors enumerated in the direct appeal from the conviction. § 565.035.2. However, the standard of review to be applied is dependent upon whether the issue is properly preserved. Issues not preserved by objection before the trial court are not subject to review except for plain error. State v. McMillin, 783 S.W.2d 82, 95 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 225, 112 L.Ed.2d 179 (1990). Here no objection was made to Judge Kinder's failure to obtain a written waiver of counsel although defendant had ample opportunity to do so in his motion to withdraw the plea filed October 18, 1989, or at other times prior to the judgment of conviction on February 15, 1990. Unquestionably defendant and his counsel knew that no written waiver had been signed. Thus the standard for reviewing the claim on direct appeal is that of plain error. Issues about which defendant and his counsel knew and which could have been raised at trial and by direct appeal may not be raised by post-conviction motion. Rodden v. State, 795 S.W.2d 393, 395 (Mo. banc 1990), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 1608, 113 L.Ed.2d 670 (1991); Johnson v. State, 729 S.W.2d 654, 657 (Mo.App.1987). Inasmuch as defendant had an opportunity to raise the issue of failure to obtain a written waiver of counsel before the original trial judge, the question may not be reviewed by a post-conviction proceeding. In Peterson v. State, 572 S.W.2d 475 (Mo. banc 1978), a defendant by post-conviction motion sought to vacate an eight-year burglary sentence because the trial court had failed to exact a written waiver of the right to assistance of counsel. This Court felt compelled to insist on strict compliance with the statute, holding that failure to use the written form mandated reversal, even in the absence of prejudice. Id. at 477. In contrast to the case now before the Court, Peterson had neither standby counsel nor was he fully represented by counsel in a hearing on a motion to withdraw his plea of guilty or at his sentencing prior to judgment of conviction. Notwithstanding the inflexible rule stated in Peterson , this Court has since found at least one exception to the requirement of a written waiver of counsel. In May v. State, 718 S.W.2d 495 (Mo. banc 1986), the defendant objected to the appointment of counsel and asserted his desire to conduct his own defense. The trial judge had a written form waiving counsel prepared and read into the record, but defendant refused to sign the form. The judge designated an assistant public defender to act as standby counsel and proceeded with the trial. The defendant was convicted and subsequently filed a post-conviction proceeding. The Court refused to apply the strict rule enunciated in Peterson , concluding that [o]ur holding accords with the purpose of § 600.051, which is to provide objective assurance that the defendant's waiver is knowing and voluntary.... To hold otherwise would permit a form of gamesmanship which might seriously interfere with trial proceedings. May, 718 S.W.2d at 497. [3] Each district of the Missouri Court of Appeals, when confronted with a case where a defendant has had hybrid counsel, has concluded that the requirements of § 600.051 are inapplicable, and no written waiver of counsel is required. State v. Tyler, 587 S.W.2d 918, 923 (Mo.App.1979); State v. Johnson, 586 S.W.2d 437, 443 (Mo. App.1979); State v. Edwards, 592 S.W.2d 308, 312 (Mo.App.1979). See also State v. McGee, 781 S.W.2d 161, 162 (Mo.App.1989). These cases are founded on the principle that one who has standby counsel or hybrid counsel has the aid and assistance of an attorney and has not actually waived counsel. Johnson, 586 S.W.2d at 443. The failure to obtain the written waiver of counsel is not plain error. State v. Harper, 637 S.W.2d 170, 173 (Mo.App.1982). Having said that, trial courts are cautioned, as they were in May , to obtain written waivers of counsel whenever a defendant expresses a desire to act with less than full representation and is willing to sign such a form.