Opinion ID: 1668322
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: STATEMENT OF FACTS PEOPLE v DENNANY

Text: Defendant Nicholas Dennany was convicted by a jury of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, [5] on the basis of an alleged sexual assault of his daughter when she was twelve years old. Defendant was sentenced to serve twenty-five to fifty years in prison. The sole issue with which we are concerned in this appeal is defendant's request, denied by the trial court, to represent himself at the trial. The facts pertinent to defendant's efforts to proceed pro se are set forth in the Court of Appeals opinion: Defendant first asked to represent himself through a June 19, 1986 motion for withdrawal of counsel. At the hearing on the motion, defendant's attorney told the court that defendant wanted to represent himself, but that he would like the assistance of an attorney for procedural matters. The attorney also told the court that his client's position was that he has been completely immersed in this matter through DSS proceedings and proceedings in juvenile court, and that defendant is representing himself against charges of abuse and neglect in juvenile court. Defendant told the court that he believed that there were issues of fact and law that would not be raised if not raised by him. He also told the court that he had successfully represented himself in a criminal prosecution involving the education of his children at home. When the court asked defendant if he was aware that he would have to follow the rules of evidence if he represented himself, defendant replied that he was so aware. The court also asked defendant if he recognized that there was a distinction between his juvenile court proceedings and the criminal case in that, while he might lose custody or parental rights in the former, he could lose his freedom in the latter. Defendant responded that he was aware of that. Defendant also told the court that the fact that he will not have the benefit of objective counsel was weighed in his decision to ask to represent himself. The court denied defendant's request. It said that it was taking into account the fact that defendant was charged with a very serious offense, the current status of the case file, i.e., that the case had already been to pretrial, and that defendant's attorney had been representing defendant for some time and was familiar with the factual background of the case. The court found that, because defendant asked for assistance of counsel with procedural matters, his request was not unequivocal. The court also found that, although the request was voluntarily and intelligently made, it was not knowingly made because defendant thought some things in the voluminous juvenile court file were relevant and, thus, admissible, while, actually, they were not. Thus, concluded the court, defendant did not fully understand the consequences of his decision to represent himself. The court further found that defendant's acting as his own attorney would unduly inconvenience and burden the court's business and that it would not be in defendant's own best interests. A week before trial began, defendant again asked to be allowed to represent himself. Defendant again told the court that he had successfully represented himself in a case involving home education that involved complicated constitutional issues and that he was aware of the problems in self-representation. He stated that his relationship with his attorney was cordial but that he wished to represent himself because of disagreements over trial strategy. Apparently, defendant's attorney wanted to keep the case narrowed to the issue of whether defendant committed the particular act for which he was charged, but defendant wanted to bring in evidence about several other allegations of sexual abuse made by his children against him in an effort to show that all of the allegations had been coerced by his ex-wife and her new husband as part of a custody battle. The court reversed its earlier finding that defendant's request for assistance with procedural matters made his request to represent himself equivocal, and it found that he was aware of the dangers involved in self-representation. Nonetheless, the court denied his request because it had grave concerns that defendant's desire to prove that the allegations were coerced by presenting evidence of other allegations would not result in a trustworthy determination of guilt or innocence due to the potent prejudicial effect of such evidence. The court went on to say that it was apparent that defendant would say things not properly before the trier of fact, that defendant's subjective involvement in the matter was very apparent, and that his subjective state of mind was such that he was not making his request with his eyes completely open.[ [6] ] Following trial, [7] defendant appealed, arguing that he should have been permitted to represent himself at trial. The Court of Appeals agreed and remanded the case to the trial court to allow defendant an opportunity to reassert his motion to proceed pro se. [8] In so doing, the Court of Appeals, applying the standards set forth in People v Anderson, 398 Mich 361; 247 NW2d 857 (1976) (see discussion, infra ), held: First, the trial court was correct when it reversed its initial finding that defendant's request for help made his request for self-representation equivocal. .. . [T]he rule seems to be that a defendant's request for self-representation is equivocal where the defendant wants to have an attorney to perform some of the trial duties, but is unequivocal where he merely wants standby counsel to assist with procedural matters....