Opinion ID: 1701514
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant here contends trial court's failure to grant a continuance in light of his declared desire to secure substitute counsel served to deny him a fair trial.

Text: This claim prefatorily encounters a procedural obstacle. In State v. McKee, 223 N.W.2d 204, 205 (Iowa 1974) we said: Ordinarily accused must either conduct his own defense or be represented by counsel and cannot combine both; accused has no right to be heard both in person and by attorney; where he is conducting his own defense, he has no right to have an attorney speak for him and he is not entitled to speak for himself where he is represented by counsel. In like vein, ABA Standards Relating to the Prosecution Function and the Defense Function, § 5.2(b) (Approved Draft 1971) states: The decisions on what witnesses to call, whether and how to conduct cross-examination, what jurors to accept or strike, what trial motions should be made, and all other strategic and tactical decisions are the exclusive province of the lawyer after consultation with his client. In the instant case McCray originally requested appointment of counsel. At no time thereafter did he ask for leave to proceed pro se. Therefore, defendant's right to so act in trial-related proceedings was accordingly waived. See State v. Smith, 215 N.W.2d 225, 226-227 (Iowa 1974). And, since attorney Allen unquestionably considered himself prepared for trial, defendant could not effectively seek a continuance without first obtaining authority to act in his own behalf. Finally, on this assignment we fail to find anything in the record which would reasonably tend to reveal existence of a irreconcilable conflict between McCray and his appointed attorney Allen. See United States v. Young, 482 F.2d 993, 996 (5th Cir. 1973). In any event we find no abuse of discretion by trial court in overruling McCray's moment-of-trial continuance motion. See Madison Silos, Div. of Martin Marietta Corp. v. Wassom, 215 N.W.2d 494, 498-499 (Iowa 1974); State v. Cowman, 212 N.W.2d 420, 423 (Iowa 1973). Defendant's first contention is devoid of substance. II. With regard to McCray's contention to the effect his trial attorney was remiss in interviewing witnesses, the record discloses defense counsel discussed with defendant events leading to his arrest and the matter of possible witnesses on approximately seven separate occasions before trial. Attorney Allen's report also reveals he conferred three and a half hours with prospective witnesses. More than three hours were also spent by him on court appearances and telephone conferences with representatives of the county attorney's office. Furthermore, Mr. Allen, on several occasions, asked McCray to divulge the names of witnesses claimed by him to be favorable to the defense but apparently received no response to these requests. Admittedly, defense counsel's records fail to disclose time devoted to research or any inspection of the crime scene. Be that as it may, we said in Wycoff v. State, 226 N.W.2d 29, 32 (Iowa 1975), quoting from State v. Massey, 207 N.W.2d 777 (Iowa 1973): `When lack of preparation is asserted as the basis of denial of proper representation, the entire record must be examined and the totality of the circumstances evaluated to determine counsel's effectiveness.    [citing authorities]. The test is whether in all the circumstances counsel's performance was within the range of normal competency. Moore v. United States, 432 F.2d 730, 737 (3 Cir. 1970). To warrant finding a deprivation of due process, such circumstances must include an affirmative factual basis demonstrating counsel's inadequacy of representation. In re Parker, 423 F.2d 1021, 1025 (8 Cir. 1970).' See also Ogden v. State, 215 N.W.2d 335, 337-338 (Iowa 1974) and authorities cited. Here McCray has totally failed to provide a factual basis upon which this court can properly determine whether defense counsel was or was not adequately prepared for trial or that his efforts were or were not within the normal range of competency. Stated otherwise, we are asked to speculate with regard to the instant issue. As in the past we again decline to do so. See State v. McKee, 223 N.W.2d at 206; State v. Kendall, 167 N.W.2d 909, 911 (Iowa 1969). Furthermore, we have reviewed the entire record and under all the circumstances now hold it fails to disclose defendant was denied a fair trial due to alleged incompetency of counsel. See Wycoff v. State, supra . Defendant's second asserted error is without merit. Affirmed.