Court Opinion

ID: 9685488
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 14:43:34.835498+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:06.997397
License: Public Domain

SCHUDSON, J.
0concurring). I agree with the majority but write separately to add emphasis and further comment on the themes addressed in footnotes 2 and 3 of our decision.
Because the "burden of developing an appropriate record," in my view, is "on the trial court," see majority op. at 671 n.2, I conclude that the trial court must undertake an "on-the-record colloquy with the defendant" to assure understanding of the right to testify, see majority op. at 672 n.3. With that in mind, however, I also would caution:
(1) On the record means on the record. In this case, as in all too many that we review, off-the-record bench or chambers conferences contain the specific facts that emerge in only summary form — and sometimes disputed form — on the record. Although a quick, off-the-record conference may seem efficient and rea*686sonable when a trial court is attempting to maintain the pace and continuity of a trial in the midst of a heavy calendar, it often produces the uncertain record that invites some appeals, and makes other appeals far more difficult to resolve.
(2) The colloquy "with the defendant" need not be elaborate if the trial court has developed an appropriate record through defense counsel. In its brief to this court, the State has cited substantial authority reflecting the concern that a trial court's on-the-record colloquy with a defendant "would unnecessarily intrude into the attorney-client relationship and could unintentionally influence the defendant in his or her choice." See, e.g., United States v. Teague, 953 F.2d 1525, 1533 n.8 (11th Cir. 1992), cert. denied, 113 S. Ct. 127 (1992). By "recognizfing] the merits" of a trial court's direct, on-the-record colloquy with a defendant, see majority op. at 672 n.3, we do not discount that concern. Thus, an artful trial court may choose to address the defendant directly, in detail, to assure understanding of the right to testify. An equally artful trial court, however, may choose to address defense counsel, in detail, in the presence of the defendant, and then ask the defendant whether he or she understands and agrees with counsel's statements. With either approach, a trial court can assure "an appropriate record" of a defendant's understanding of the right to testify.