Opinion ID: 2486429
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: McCRAY's Request During the State's Opening

Text: Next, McCRAY contends that the trial court conducted a constitutionally infirm Faretta inquiry when he requested self-representation during the State's opening statement and that his request for complete self-representation was not met by a Faretta inquiry at all. During the State's guilt-phase opening statements, McCRAY interrupted the proceedings, and the trial judge had the jury exit the courtroom. McCRAY then requested that he proceed pro se right now at this time. When the court informed McCRAY that he would have to choose to either represent himself alone or allow counsel to solely represent him, McCRAY explained that he wanted to represent himself and discharge his attorneys. The record reflects that McCRAY then vacillated between his decision to discharge counsel and to have counsel's assistance in addition to allowing him to try the case. As the court began a Faretta inquiry, asking McCRAY about his education, his employment history, and whether he had any prior legal experience, the record shows that McCRAY reaffirmed his desire to engage in some form of hybrid representation. After the trial judge informed McCRAY that the law did not mandate that the judge allow hybrid representation, the judge then noted for the record that based on McCRAY's conduct, McCRAY would have to be removed from the courtroom. Just before his removal, McCRAY exclaimed: I don't want my counsel.... I don't want them to help me right now then.... I don't prefer them to help me at all right now. I'd like to dismiss them all the way because I'm the head of the defense. After McCRAY was removed, the jury returned to the courtroom, and the judge informed the jury that although McCRAY had been removed, McCRAY would be provided with a television with sound to view and hear the proceedings, and that at the conclusion of each witness's testimony, defense counsel would be allowed to discuss witness testimony with McCRAY to determine if McCRAY would like to add anything. Based on this exchange, McCRAY now argues that the partial Faretta inquiry was improper and the trial court's failure to engage in such an inquiry after he finally expressed his desire to dismiss them all the way before being removed from the courtroom warrants reversal. However, we do not accept that McCRAY's requests, which vacillated between requests for self-representation and representation by counsel within the span of minutes, were the type of unequivocal statements needed to trigger a Faretta inquiry. See Waterhouse v. State, 596 So.2d 1008, 1014 (Fla.1992) (explaining that a defendant may not manipulate the proceedings by willy-nilly leaping back and forth between choices of self-representation and legal counsel (quoting Jones v. State, 449 So.2d 253, 259 (Fla.1984))). Because the record clearly reflects that McCRAY's requests in this instance were not unequivocal, but ambiguous, the trial court was not obligated to take the preliminary step of holding a Faretta hearing, and we therefore deny relief as to this subclaim.