Opinion ID: 1746982
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Preservation of ErrorEstablishing Record

Text: As a preliminary matter, the State avers Cooley failed to brief or argue his claim that the trial court posed an insufficient inquiry as to the defendant's competence to represent himself, thereby resulting in a waiver of the issue on appeal. Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 14(a)(3) provides: Failure in the brief to state, to argue or to cite authority in support of an issue may be deemed waiver of that issue. Cooley's competence was not questioned during oral argument, nor was the matter referenced in the defense brief beyond a heading which reads: THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN CONDUCTING INSUFFICIENT INQUIRY INTO THE DEFENDANT'S UNDERSTANDING OF PRO SE REPRESENTATION AND INTO WHETHER THE DEFENDANT WAS COMPETENT TO MAKE THE DECISION TO REPRESENT HIMSELF, ALL IN VIOLATION OF THE SIXTH AMENDMENT. The State has interpreted this heading as a claim by Cooley that he was either incompetent to act pro se, or that the trial court owed him a duty to inquire as to his mental status. In either event, Cooley failed to articulate any arguments to that end so the point is moot. Moreover, a defendant is generally presumed competent unless evidence appears to the contrary. Jones v. State, 479 N.W.2d 265, 270 (Iowa 1991). A hearing is not necessary unless a court has reason to doubt a defendant's competence. Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S. 389, 401 n. 13, 113 S.Ct. 2680, 2688 n. 13, 125 L.Ed.2d 321, 333 n. 13 (1993); State v. Edwards, 507 N.W.2d 393, 395 (Iowa 1993); see also Iowa Code § 812.3 (1997). No such evidence arose prior to, or during, the trial to which Cooley has brought our attention to bear. The issue is waived. With regard to Cooley's charge that the trial court failed to conduct a colloquy to determine whether his waiver of counsel was proffered knowingly and understandingly, the State alleges the defendant failed to establish a record for appeal. The State asserts the trial court had off the record conversations with Cooley regarding self-representation, [1] and that it is incumbent upon the defendant to supply the court with a record affirmatively disclosing any error relied upon for appeal. Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 10(c) provides: c. Statement of the evidence of proceedings when no report was made or when the transcript is unavailable. If no report of the evidence or proceedings at a hearing or trial was made, or if a transcript is unavailable, appellant may prepare a statement of the evidence or proceedings from the best available means, including his recollection. The statement shall be filed with the clerk of the trial court and served on appellee within twenty days after the filing of the notice of appeal. Appellee may file with the clerk of the trial court and serve on appellant objections or proposed amendments to the statement within ten days after service of appellant's statement. Thereupon the statement and any objections or proposed amendments shall be submitted to the trial court for settlement and approval and as settled and approved shall be included in the record on appeal. The State reasons that since Cooley failed to provide a transcript of the alleged conversations, or to recreate the discourse from memory, his claim should be waived because a reviewing court cannot predicate error on speculation. State v. Douglas, 485 N.W.2d 619, 625 (Iowa 1992). The court of appeals rejected this argument holding that when a defendant asserts a lack of inquiry, the court will presume there is no record to recreate under rule 10(c). We agree with the logic of this ruling. Here, the State requests Cooley produce a transcript of a conversation he denies ever took place. The defendant is being asked to prove a negative. If the State has reason to believe that an off the record colloquy took place, it is free to rebut the defendant's assertions to the contrary, and to produce evidence to that end. Thus in the case at hand, it is the responsibility of the State to uphold the validity of Cooley's waiver of counsel. C. Waiver A defendant has a Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to self-representation under the United States Constitution. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 807, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2527, 45 L.Ed.2d 562, 566 (1975); Rater, 568 N.W.2d at 658. When an accused manages his own defense, he relinquishes, as a purely factual matter, many of the traditional benefits associated with the right to counsel. For this reason, in order to represent oneself, an accused must knowingly and intelligently forgo those relinquished benefits. Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541, 45 L.Ed.2d at 581; Rater, 568 N.W.2d at 658. The Supreme Court has imposed rigorous restrictions on the information that must be conveyed to a defendant, and the procedures that must be observed, before permitting a waiver of the right to counsel at trial. Patterson v. Illinois, 487 U.S. 285, 298, 108 S.Ct. 2389, 2398, 101 L.Ed.2d 261, 276 (1988). A searching or formal inquiry is among the procedures required before an accused's waiver of counsel may be accepted. Id. at 299, 108 S.Ct. at 2398, 101 L.Ed.2d at 276-77. While the extent of a trial court's inquiry may vary depending on the nature of the offense and the background of the accused, some sort of meaningful colloquy must be accomplished. Id. at 298, 108 S.Ct. at 2398, 101 L.Ed.2d at 276-77; Von Moltke v. Gillies, 332 U.S. 708, 723-24, 68 S.Ct. 316, 323, 92 L.Ed. 309, 320-21 (1948); Rater, 568 N.W.2d at 660. In Patterson the Court remarked: [W]e require a more searching or formal inquiry before permitting an accused to waive his right to counsel at trial than we require for a Sixth Amendment waiver during postindictment questioning not because postindictment questioning is less important than a trial ...but because the full dangers and disadvantages of self-representation during questioning are less substantial and more obvious to an accused than they are at trial. Patterson, 487 U.S. at 299, 108 S.Ct. at 2398, 101 L.Ed.2d at 276-77 (citations omitted). Thus a serious and weighty duty has been imposed upon trial courts to determine whether a waiver is competent and intelligent. Von Moltke, 332 U.S. at 723, 68 S.Ct. at 323, 92 L.Ed. at 320-21; Johnson, 304 U.S. at 465, 58 S.Ct. at 1023, 82 L.Ed. at 1467. The Court described the duty thusly: To discharge this duty properly in light of the strong presumption against waiver of the constitutional right to counsel, a judge must investigate as long and as thoroughly as the circumstances of the case before him demand. The fact that an accused may tell him that he is informed of his right to counsel and desires to waive this right does not automatically end the judge's responsibility. To be valid such waiver must be made with an apprehension of the nature of the charges, the statutory offenses included within them, the range of allowable punishments thereunder, possible defenses to the charges and circumstances in mitigation thereof, and all other facts essential to a broad understanding of the whole matter. A judge can make certain that an accused's professed waiver of counsel is understandingly and wisely made only from a penetrating and comprehensive examination of all the circumstances under which such a plea is tendered. [A] mere routine inquirythe asking of several standard questions followed by the signing of a standard written waiver of counselmay leave a judge entirely unaware of the facts essential to an informed decision that an accused has executed a valid waiver of his right to counsel. [T]his case shows that such routine inquiries may be inadequate although the Constitution does not require that under all circumstances counsel be forced upon a defendant. Von Moltke, 332 U.S. at 724, 68 S.Ct. at 323, 92 L.Ed. at 321 (citations omitted). A waiver is made knowingly when the accused is apprised of the factors delineated above, admonished as to the usefulness of an attorney at that particular proceeding, and made cognizant of the danger in continuing without counsel. See Patterson, 487 U.S. at 298, 108 S.Ct. at 2398, 101 L.Ed.2d at 276; Von Moltke, 332 U.S. at 723-24, 68 S.Ct. at 323, 92 L.Ed. at 320-21; Rater, 568 N.W.2d at 658. A waiver that is not voluntary and intelligent cannot be accepted. Godinez, 509 U.S. at 401-02, 113 S.Ct. at 2688, 125 L.Ed.2d at 334; Rater, 568 N.W.2d at 658. In other words, a waiver that does not meet these criteria is not valid. See Godinez, 509 U.S. at 400, 113 S.Ct. at 2687, 125 L.Ed.2d at 334; Von Moltke, 332 U.S. at 724, 68 S.Ct. at 323, 92 L.Ed. at 320-21. The United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, recently addressed the question of the degree of inquiry necessary to establish adequacy of counsel when a conflict of interest arose between a defendant and his lawyer. Atley v. Ault, 191 F.3d 865 (8th Cir.1999). The defendant, Atley, filed a petition for habeas corpus relief claiming the state trial judge failed to fully investigate a conflict of interest, which required a substitution of counsel in order to safeguard defendant's constitutional right to representation. Id. at 866. The federal court granted Atley relief because: [T]he trial court's dialogue improperly assumed answers to questions that were never asked and were necessary to its determination of whether the alleged conflict of interest required the substitution of new counsel. Id. at 872. The purpose of a colloquy is to provide fair notice of the obstacles inherent in self-representation before an accused embarks on so perilous an endeavor. The inquiry afforded Cooley was limited. He was informed of his right to counsel and told an attorney would be provided at no cost. He was not, however, warned of the dangers he would encounter as his own attorney. Nor was he advised with respect to the above mentioned criteria. Although Cooley declared in his Motion to Proceed Pro Se that he was fully advised of the pitfalls claimed to be associated with one representing himself, the trial court did not attempt to ascertain which specific pitfalls defendant was aware of. Nor was any further inquiry made as to Cooley's professed familiarity with the justice system and how that experience prepared him to represent himself. As in Atley, the trial court assumed answers to questions that were never asked. The failure of the trial court to inquire and advise the defendant of the dangers of proceeding pro se leaves the record deficient to permit the reviewing court to properly determine whether the defendant's waiver of his right to counsel was made knowingly and intelligently. Applying the standards and guides as established by the federal courts, we find the defendant was not afforded an adequate constitutional inquiry by the trial court.