Opinion ID: 173551
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Court's Duty to Inquire Into Relationship With Defense Counsel

Text: In Mr. Hood's fourth and final claim, he argues that the district court sua sponte should have inquired into Mr. Hood's relationship with defense counsel to investigate a possible conflict based on Mr. Hood's statements about defense counsel at his sentencing hearing. [8] This argument can gain no traction. As the government rightly states, there is no statutory or case law suggesting the duty Hood advocates. To the contrary, the cases suggest that district courts generally do not have a duty sua sponte to inquire into the attorney-client relationship. Aplee. Br. at 50. A district court has no such duty, particularly when it is presented only with the unsworn, unsupported, and at times contradictory, allegations of the defendant at his sentencing hearing. Cf. United States v. Meacham, 567 F.3d 1184, 1187-88 (10th Cir.2009) (holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying, without an evidentiary hearing, a motion for a new trial based on counsel's alleged refusal to allow defendant to testify on his own behalf; discussing the fact that the claim regarding counsel's refusal was unsupported by an affidavit or testimony under oath); United States v. Stark, 507 F.3d 512, 516 (7th Cir.2007) (in holding that a trial court is not required to question a defendant sua sponte to ensure that he knowingly and intelligently has decided not to testify, stating that [c]riminal defendants and their lawyers often do not see eye to eye. If a district court were compelled to inquire into every potential conflict it thought it had spotted, there would be a risk of multiple, unnecessary proceedings, some of which might even imperil the attorney-client relationship. More is needed before this kind of judicial duty arises.); United States v. Van De Walker, 141 F.3d 1451, 1452 (11th Cir. 1998) (rejecting argument that there is a per se requirement that a district court inquire into decision of criminal defendant not to testify, and discussing concerns about intruding into the attorney-client relationship or influencing the defendant's choice); United States v. Robinson, 913 F.2d 712, 716 (9th Cir.1990) (holding that the district court did not err in failing to make further inquiries into the defendant's complaints about counsel when the defendant made no motion for substitution of counsel). We decline to impose this duty upon district courts or to interfere unnecessarily in the attorney-client relationship. In so holding, we emphasize that we do not suggest that Mr. Hood is unable to raise these issues in a collateral ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. He remains free to do so.