Opinion ID: 1746085
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Was There a Valid Waiver?

Text: The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the Assistance Of Counsel for his defense. U.S. Const. amend. VI. The Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution makes this right binding on the states. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 807, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2527, 45 L.Ed.2d 562, 566 (1975). Faretta interpreted the Sixth Amendment to mean that it does not provide merely that a defense shall be made for the accused; it grants to the accused personally the right to make his defense. Id. at 819, 95 S.Ct. at 2533, 45 L.Ed.2d at 572. The Sixth Amendment right to counsel is in effect until waived. Rater, 568 N.W.2d at 658. In contrast, the Sixth Amendment right to self-representation is not effective until asserted. Id. Before the right to self-representation attaches, the defendant must voluntarily elect to proceed without counsel by knowingly and intelligently waiving his or her Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541, 45 L.Ed.2d at 582; Rater, 568 N.W.2d at 658. The defendant's request to proceed without counsel must be clear and unequivocal. Id. In addition, courts `indulge every reasonable presumption against waiver' of fundamental constitutional rights .... Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1023, 82 L.Ed. 1461, 1466 (1938) (footnotes omitted) (quoting Aetna Ins. Co. v. Kennedy, 301 U.S. 389, 393, 57 S.Ct. 809, 811, 81 L.Ed. 1177, 1180 (1937)). Before a trial court accepts the defendant's request to proceed pro se, the court must make the defendant aware of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation, so that the record will establish that `he knows what he is doing and his choice is made with eyes open.' Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541, 45 L.Ed.2d at 582 (quoting Adams v. United States, 317 U.S. 269, 279, 63 S.Ct. 236, 242, 87 L.Ed. 268, 275 (1942)); accord Rater, 568 N.W.2d at 658. [A] defendant who elects to represent himself cannot thereafter complain that the quality of his own defense amounted to a denial of `effective assistance of counsel.' Faretta, 422 U.S. at 833 n. 46, 95 S.Ct. at 2541 n. 46, 45 L.Ed.2d at 581 n. 46. In State v. Spencer, 519 N.W.2d 357, 360 n. 1 (Iowa 1994), we pointed the bench and bar to a model inquiry for determining a knowing and intelligent waiver of counsel. The model inquiry is found in 1 Bench Book for United States District Judges 1.02-2 (3d ed.1986), as well as United States v. McDowell, 814 F.2d 245, 251-52 (6th Cir.1987). See also Spencer v. Ault, 941 F.Supp. 832, 843-44 (N.D.Iowa 1996). Another excellent model is found in the Iowa Bench Book, 5-37 to 5-41 (1999). We suggest either model inquiry in forced-choice situations such as the one here. The State concedes, and we agree, that the district court permitted Martin to proceed pro se without any colloquy about the hazards of self-representation and therefore did not determine whether Martin's choice of self-representation was made knowingly and intelligently. (Martin's choice, however, was voluntary because a refusal without good cause to proceed with able appointed counsel is a voluntary waiver. United States v. Taylor, 113 F.3d 1136, 1140 (10th Cir.1997).) The record reveals the district court did nothing more than merely recommend on two separate occasions that Martin keep Wolfe as his counsel at trial. While we sympathize with the frustration and exasperation of the district court, `even well-founded suspicions of intentional delay and manipulative tactics can provide no substitute for the inquiries necessary to protect a defendant's constitutional rights.' McMahon v. Fulcomer, 821 F.2d 934, 943 (3rd Cir.1987) (quoting Welty, 674 F.2d at 189). Nevertheless, the State insists that, under the facts of this case, we need not reverse. The State argues that, although the Faretta colloquy was lacking in this case, this constitutional defect was cured when Martin allowed Wolfe to assume representation during the trial. That brings us to the State's alternative argument.