Court Opinion

ID: 9468716
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:21:56.829255+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:01.166306
License: Public Domain

FLETCHER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
Because the majority misconstrues Wilson’s self-representation claim and erroneously concludes that he was not denied his right to self-representation, I must dissent.
Wilson wanted to represent himself; he said so unequivocally at his arraignment. Instead, after a hearing, the magistrate appointed counsel to represent Wilson because “the defendant lacks sufficient background educationally or otherwise to adequately represent himself...” Wilson protested but received no response.1 On the day of his trial, with potential jurors already in the *1250courtroom, the judge offered Wilson the choice of conducting his own trial or proceeding with counsel, but with an opportunity to question witnesses himself. Wilson chose to proceed with counsel because he had not had an opportunity to prepare his own defense.
The sixth amendment and 28 U.S.C. § 1654 (1976) guarantee a defendant the right to represent himself in federal court. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 813, 818, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2530, 2532, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975); Bittaker v. Enomoto, 587 F.2d 400, 402 (9th Cir. 1978). This right cannot be denied because a defendant lacks expertise or professional capabilities, United States v. Trapnell, 512 F.2d 10, 11 (9th Cir. 1975), nor must a defendant show prejudice in order to prevail on a claim that his self-representation rights have been denied, Bittaker, 587 F.2d at 402; United States v. Price, 474 F.2d 1223, 1227 (9th Cir. 1973).2
The majority agrees due process requires that a defendant representing himself have meaningful access to the court. Maj. Op. at 1245. However, a defendant may not insist on a particular means of access so long as the state provides a meaningful one. Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 824, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 1496, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977); Storseth v. Spellman, 654 F.2d 1349, 1353 (9th Cir. 1981); United States v. Grimes, 641 F.2d 96, 98 (3rd Cir. 1981).
Meaningful access for the pro se litigant involves, at a minimum, some time to prepare and some means of getting prepared for trial. Wilson had absolutely no time to prepare. Appointed counsel’s preparation to conduct the trial is not the equivalent of Wilson getting himself prepared. Had Wilson known he could represent himself, he could have asked the appointed lawyer to get books for him, gather information, or give advice on trial procedure in aid of Wilson’s defense of himself. Wilson could have prepared himself with this aid. Or he could have scorned the lawyer and taken whatever other means were available to him to get ready. The court even could have withdrawn the appointment of advisory counsel, provided Wilson was given reasonable time and some reasonable way of preparing himself for trial — for example, through aid of a jail-house lawyer, or through access to books from the library. Meaningful access can be by any of several routes. None was afforded here.
The majority, apparently in an effort to find meaningful access, obfuscates the facts and blurs the distinction between counsel appointed to represent a defendant and counsel appointed to advise a defendant representing himself.3
Because Wilson was given no time to prepare and was not offered advisory counsel or any other means of preparing his own defense, despite repeated and unequivocal requests to represent himself, I would reverse Wilson’s conviction and remand the case to the district court.

. Wilson attempted to appeal the magistrate’s denial of his request to represent himself. He filed a “Notice of Intent to Appeal Denial of Motion to Proceed in Propria Persona” with the District Court. The court received this document long before Wilson’s trial. The district judge’s clerk, however, proposed in a memorandum to the judge that Wilson’s request be “placed in the file and ignored until the time of trial.” The judge approved this plan by noting “OK” in the margin of the clerk’s memorandum. Subsequently, the clerk sent a copy of his memorandum to Wilson’s appointed counsel with a note that explained, “see attached so that you will know what the plan is.” As a result of this scheme, appellant’s request to represent himself was not reviewed until the day of this trial. Thereby, the court and defendant’s counsel willfully and knowingly deprived the defendant of an opportunity to prepare his own defense in advance of trial. The court and counsel’s extraordinary and inappropriate conduct, alone, is reason enough for reversal. It evinces a callous disregard for appellant’s rights and constitutes an abuse of discretion on the part of the court. See Fed.R. Crim.P. 12(e) (“A motion made before trial shall be determined before trial.... ”).

. A defendant, of course, waives his right to counsel if he chooses to represent himself, and, conversely, once he has chosen to represent himself, a return to representation by counsel must be accompanied by a voluntary waiver of the defendant’s self-representation rights. “The very essence of a voluntary waiver is that it be the product of a free and meaningful choice.” McKee v. Harris, 649 F.2d 927, 931 (2d Cir. 1981). Wilson’s decision to accept appointed counsel did not involve such a meaningful choice. He was never allowed to think that he might be able to represent himself until the day of his trial. At that point he was given a choice between representing himself unprepared or proceeding with counsel. The court’s offer to allow Wilson to have counsel but to question witnesses and comment does not cure the defect in the choice he faced. Thus, the majority does not, and could not, argue that Wilson voluntarily waived his right to represent himself.

. The majority claims confusion where there is none. See Maj. Op. at 1245. The majority states that “it is not clear whether Wilson ever specifically was offered the research services of counsel.” Maj.Op. at 1245. There is no hint in the record anywhere that he was given that choice, nor would such an offer make sense because the magistrate had denied Wilson the right to represent himself. Only on the day of trial did the court reverse the magistrate. At another point the'majority states the defendant “had access to counsel before trial but rejected the assistance." Maj. Op. at 1245 (emphasis added). Wilson rejected representation. Nowhere in the record is there any evidence he was offered assistance.