Opinion ID: 2646881
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Revocation of In Propria Persona Status

Text: Defendant next contends that his Sixth Amendment right of selfrepresentation was violated when the trial court revoked his Faretta status. He argues that “[t]he trial judge’s rationale for termination of [defendant’s] Faretta 63 rights — that [defendant] was using dilatory practices — is not supported by the record.” We disagree. A criminal defendant has a right to represent himself at trial under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. (Faretta, supra, 422 U.S. 806; People v. Marshall (1997) 15 Cal.4th 1, 20.) “A trial court must grant a defendant’s request for self-representation if the defendant knowingly and intelligently makes an unequivocal and timely request after having been apprised of its dangers.” (People v. Valdez (2004) 32 Cal.4th 73, 97–98.) Erroneous denial of a Faretta motion is reversible per se. (People v. Dent (2003) 30 Cal.4th 213, 218.) However, the right of self-representation is not absolute. “[The] government’s interest in ensuring the integrity and efficiency of the trial at times outweighs the defendant’s interest in acting as his own lawyer.” (Martinez v. Court of Appeal (2000) 528 U.S. 152, 161.) “The right of self-representation is not a license to abuse the dignity of the courtroom. Neither is it a license not to comply with relevant rules of procedural and substantive law.” (Faretta, supra, 422 U.S. at pp. 834–835, fn. 46; see also People v. Butler (2009) 47 Cal.4th 814 [“The court may deny a request for self-representation that . . . is intended to delay or disrupt the proceedings.”].) “Thus, a trial court must undertake the task of deciding whether a defendant is and will remain so disruptive, obstreperous, disobedient, disrespectful or obstructionist in his or her actions or words as to preclude the exercise of the right to self-representation. The trial court possesses much discretion when it comes to terminating a defendant’s right to selfrepresentation and the exercise of that discretion ‘will not be disturbed in the absence of a strong showing of clear abuse.’ ” (People v. Welch (1999) 20 Cal.4th 701, 735.) 64 Because we have already recounted the relevant factual background and procedural history above, we highlight here only the most salient points. When the trial court granted defendant’s request to represent himself on August 16, 2000, defendant assured the trial court that he would be prepared for trial by February 5, 2001. By the time the trial court revoked defendant’s Faretta status on June 28, 2001, defendant had exceeded this deadline by almost five months. While proceeding in propria persona, defendant requested and received two continuances and did not object to a third continuance requested by standby counsel. During the 10-and-a-half-month period during which defendant represented himself, defendant repeatedly complained about David Gunn and made multiple motions to remove him as standby counsel despite the fact that the trial court had made clear that Gunn had no control over defendant and played no role in defendant’s preparation of his defense. Defendant also filed three separate motions to disqualify the trial judge pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 170.1; moved to disqualify the prosecutor pursuant to Penal Code section 1424; and filed a motion for a change of venue. These motions were denied. During the same period, defendant did not subpoena any witnesses or turn over any discovery. The record demonstrates that defendant did not engage in efficient investigation and trial preparation. Although the prosecutor represented to the trial court that he had given his investigator’s phone number to defendant, defendant did not make contact with the investigator. Defendant claimed that the investigator never answered the phone, but the prosecutor countered that defendant never actually called. During a June 15, 2001, trial readiness conference, the trial court said that it had received a letter from defendant’s courtappointed investigator notifying the court that the investigator was “no longer” on the case and asking for his appointment to be terminated. In the letter, the 65 investigator stated: “I find it impossible to work with Mr. Williams.” The trial court granted the investigator’s request and relieved him from the case. On June 28, 2001, when the trial court asked defendant if he had retained a new investigator, defendant stated: “No. I do plan on, yes.” During a hearing on June 28, 2001, the prosecutor alleged that defendant was engaging in delay tactics and urged the trial court to relieve defendant of his Faretta status. According to the prosecutor, defendant had “done everything to delay the proceedings in his dealings with the investigator,” and defendant was “no closer to trial today than he was a year ago.” In response, defendant challenged the prosecutor’s factual representations but also acknowledged that he was “in over [his] head.” He then stated: “I — at this point, I’m kind of, like, fed up. Whatever y’all want to do. . . . This is your house. I’m burnt out. [¶] . . . So if you want to take my pro per status, fine. This is your courtroom. Do what you want to do. I don’t care. But don’t give it to [attorney David Gunn]. That’s the whole thing I’ve been fighting. That is why I filed the motion to remove him as standby counsel, because when he was counsel he ain’t doing nothing.” The trial court then issued the following ruling: “I make the following findings: That [defendant] has had — and I do not know the number of Marsden motions. I can’t even count the number of lawyers that he’s had. . . . [¶] I find that I agree with [defendant], he’s in over his head. And that all of these have been delay tactics. And I’m going to remove him from his pro per status.” “[T]he Faretta right is forfeited unless the defendant ‘ “articulately and unmistakably” ’ demands to proceed in propria persona.” (People v. Valdez, supra, 32 Cal.4th at p. 99.) By conceding that he was in over his head and acquiescing to the revocation of his Faretta status, defendant did not unmistakably demand to continue in propria persona. Defendant has therefore forfeited this claim. (See People v. Rudd (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 620, 628–630 [holding that 66 defendant forfeited his objection to an order revoking his pro se status by raising it for the first time on appeal].) Forfeiture aside, defendant’s claim fails on the merits. By the time defendant’s Faretta status was revoked, defendant had been proceeding in propria persona for over 10 months and had missed the ready-for-trial deadline by five months. During this period, defendant did not conduct any meaningful investigation or engage in any discovery. Defendant conceded, and the trial court found, that he was “in over his head.” The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that defendant had engaged in “delay tactics” in the course of his selfrepresentation. Accordingly, we find no violation of defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to self-representation.