Opinion ID: 475859
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Faretta Issue

Text: 130 Through Zerbst, Gideon, and other cases, the Court established that a criminal defendant must be provided with an opportunity to have the assistance of counsel before he could be deprived of life or liberty. As the years passed, however, the right to counsel evolved from a privilege to a requirement in many courts. It was in this context that Mr. Anthony Faretta found himself forced to accept legal assistance, although he insisted that he wanted to conduct his own defense. 7 131 Ultimately, the Court held that a criminal defendant had a constitutional right to conduct his own defense. Faretta, 422 U.S. at 836, 95 S.Ct. at 2541-42. Yet, the Court reached this conclusion reluctantly and with a certain degree of trepidation. 132 For example, the court stated, There can be no blinking the fact that the right of an accused to conduct his own defense seems to cut against the grain of this Court's decision holding that the Constitution requires that no accused can be convicted and imprisoned unless he has been accorded the right to the assistance of counsel. For it is surely true that the basic thesis of those decisions is that the help of a lawyer is essential to assure the defendant a fair trial. Id. at 832-33, 95 S.Ct. at 2539-40 (citations and footnotes omitted). 133 The Court's solution was to emphasize an individual's freedom of choice. In other words, the Constitution requires that a defendant have an opportunity to have legal representation, but that right may be waived by a defendant who knowingly and intelligently chooses to represent himself after being made aware of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation. Id. at 833-36, 95 S.Ct. at 2540-42. 134 Subsequent cases have examined the relationship between the right to assistance of counsel and the right of self-representation. Overwhelmingly, the courts have concluded that the right to counsel is pre-eminent over the right to self-representation. 8 Brown, 665 F.2d at 610. Therefore, the law requires the special protections of a clear and unequivocal assertion of the right to self-representation and that a defendant understand the risks and disadvantages of self-representation. Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541. 135
136 The case law clearly indicates that assistance of counsel is strongly preferred over self-representation. If defendant is silent on the subject, counsel should be provided. If defendant vacillates on the issue, counsel should be provided. If defendant abandons his request, counsel should be provided. With this point in mind, the facts demonstrate that defendant failed to waive his right to counsel. 137 In this case, defendant made numerous attempts to hire private counsel. He only reluctantly decided to represent himself when his attempts to hire a lawyer proved fruitless. The trial judge ordered defendant to obtain private counsel or proceed pro se unless he moved for an indigency inquiry prior to May 28. Since he made no motion prior to this deadline, and was unable to hire a private attorney, he had no choice but to represent himself. Under these circumstances, his decision seems a far cry from an affirmative, clear and unequivocal assertion of the right to self-representation. Instead, the record demonstrates that defendant earnestly desired the assistance of counsel, but was unable to afford one. 138
139 The majority states that a waiver hearing regarding the disadvantages of a pro se defense is recommended but not absolutely essential, provided that the defendant actually understood those dangers and disadvantages. 9 Yet, the Eleventh Circuit has consistently indicated that this hearing is mandatory. Raulerson, 732 F.2d at 808; United States v. Edwards, 716 F.2d 822, 824 (11th Cir.1983); Hance, 696 F.2d at 949; United States v. Chaney, 662 F.2d 1148, 1152 (5th Cir.1981) (Unit B). I see no reason to abandon our well established procedure. 10 140 The mandatory nature of the Faretta inquiry is justified because the Court has recognized that a defendant's decision to go pro se is tantamount to pleading guilty--the process is just a little slower and perhaps move painful. 11 For example, Justice Sutherland once wrote: 141 Even the intelligent and educated layman has small and sometimes no skill in the science of law. If charged with crime, he is incapable, generally, of determining for himself whether the indictment is good or bad. He is unfamiliar with the rules of evidence. Left without the aid of counsel he may be put on trial without a proper charge, and convicted upon incompetent evidence, or evidence irrelevant to the issue or otherwise inadmissible. He lacks both the skill and knowledge adequately to prepare his defense, even though he have a perfect one. He requires the guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings against him. Without it, though he be not guilty, he faces the danger of conviction because he does not know how to establish his innocence. 142 Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 69, 53 S.Ct. 55, 64, 77 L.Ed.2d 158 (1932). Similarly, the majority in Faretta recognized that a pro se defendant relinquishes, as a purely factual matter, many of the traditional benefits associated with the right to counsel. Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541. Furthermore, the dissenting justices emphasized this point. Chief Justice Burger asked, The fact of the matter is that in all but an extraordinarily small number of cases an accused will lose whatever defense he may have if he undertakes to conduct the trial himself. Id. at 838, 95 S.Ct. at 2543. Justice Blackmun said, The court concludes that self-representation must be allowed despite the obvious dangers of unjust convictions in order to protect the individual's right of free choice. As I have already indicated, I cannot agree to such a drastic curtailment of the interest of the State in seeing that justice is done in a real objective sense. Id. at 851, 95 S.Ct. at 2549. In short, the Faretta inquiry functions much like the guilty plea procedure--both protect a defendant by educating him and ensuring that his decision is voluntary and intelligent.