Court Opinion

ID: 9479629
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:23:51.945341+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:47:10.017043
License: Public Domain

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
In light of Justice Brennan’s concurrence in Luce v. United States, 469 U.S. 38, 43-44, 105 S.Ct. 460, 464, 83 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984), I question the ultimate correctness of my colleagues’ disposition of the motion in limine issue. In his concurrence, Justice Brennan stated that the Luce holding should be limited to rulings involving Rule *1128609(a), and noted that in cases where “the determinative question turns on legal and not factual considerations, a requirement that the defendant actually testify at trial to preserve the admissibility issue for appeal might not necessarily be appropriate.” Id. at 44, 105 S.Ct. at 464. There is, in my view, considerable merit to Justice Brennan’s position. However, two subsequent First Circuit cases, United States v. Griffin, 818 F.2d 97 (1st Cir.1987) and United States v. Mazza, 792 F.2d 1210 (1st Cir.1986), have interpreted Luce broadly. They implicitly reject the approach taken by Justice Brennan and appear to have foreclosed the issue in this circuit. For this reason, I agree that my colleagues have properly applied the precedent which must govern our decision here.
On the right to testify question, I concur, again with considerable reluctance, in the result reached by the majority. Wellington made it clear that he wished to act as his own counsel. Subsequently, the judge explicitly stated that Wellington would be required to question all of the witnesses, including himself. When Wellington took the stand to testify, he asked if the jury could question him, a request which was denied by the court. Even after the court’s adverse ruling, Wellington did not request that his co-counsel be permitted to question him. Rather, at that point he proceeded to question himself. When the objection to his first question was sustained, Wellington appeared to be totally confused and chose not to ask himself any more questions. Once again, however, he did not ask the court to permit his co-counsel to conduct the questioning. Under these circumstances, I cannot conclude that the district judge committed reversible error.
Nevertheless, I believe that the district judge should have taken steps, sua sponte, to protect Wellington’s interests in securing a fair trial. The right to testify in one’s own defense is a fundamental constitutional right, Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U.S. 44, 107 S.Ct. 2704, 2709, 97 L.Ed.2d 37 (1987), United States v. Martinez, 883 F.2d 750, 754 (9th Cir.1989), and Wellington’s attempt to offer his own testimony, by means of self-questioning, was obviously a total failure. At that point, I believe that the judge should have inquired of Wellington whether he would be interested in having his original attorney conduct the examination, since that attorney had subsequently been appointed to serve as Wellington’s co-counsel and was present in the courtroom for the purpose of providing him with legal assistance. Although the judge had previously stated that only one “counsel,” Wellington, would be permitted to question of the witnesses, given Wellington’s subsequent performance, the judge should have been willing to reconsider that ruling, at least with respect to Wellington’s own testimony. In my opinion, a willingness on the part of the district court to explore alternative methods of enabling Wellington to testify in his own defense, and a sensitivity to the difficulties presented by the defendant’s attempt to elicit essential testimony through self-questioning, would have better served the interests of justice and afforded greater protection to the important constitutional right at stake.