Opinion ID: 661464
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Castillo's Right to Testify.

Text: 10 Castillo contends that counsel's failure to call him as a witness in his own defense resulted in an involuntary waiver of his right to testify because he was unaware that he had such a right. Castillo asserts, in an affidavit submitted in support of his belated motion for a new trial, see infra Part B of this Discussion, that although he did not testify at his original trial, he told his counsel during the second trial that he wanted to testify but his counsel refused to call him to the stand, and Castillo believed that he had no recourse at that juncture. 11 The record is clear, however, that Castillo had been advised at his first trial, in open court, regarding his right to testify. Accordingly, accepting as true, arguendo, the assertions in Castillo's affidavit regarding his conversations with his counsel at the second trial, 2 he cannot prevail on this issue. See United States v. McMeans, 927 F.2d 162, 163 (4th Cir.1991) (per curiam) (record from first trial shows that defendant knew of his right to testify, thus his failure to testify in his second trial cannot be the product of ignorance); cf. Underwood v. Clark, 939 F.2d 473, 476 (7th Cir.1991) (The defendant need not protest and the judge need not question him, but in a subsequent collateral attack on the conviction the defendant must produce something more than a bare, unsubstantiated, thoroughly self-serving, and none too plausible statement that his lawyer (in violation of professional standards) forbade him to take the stand.). 12