Court Opinion

ID: 9482500
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:52:07.681174+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:01.949622
License: Public Domain

BIECH, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the result:
I concur in the result in this case and join in the concurring opinion authored by Judge Edmondson.
Without retreating in any manner from the positions stated in Judge Edmondson’s concurrence, I believe that another facet of the right-to-testify issue should be discussed. Assuming, arguendo, that the criminal defendant’s right to testify is indeed fundamental and personal and can be violated by non-governmental actors, the accused should be required to invoke that right for it to attach. Hence, a “waiver” type of analysis is inappropriate on review. The opinions of other circuit courts confronting this issue have employed the latter method of review.1 In addition to being inappropriate, the approach taken by those circuits is also inadequate in failing to address the “knowing and intelligent” requirement issue discussed by Judge Clark in his dissent.
The majority’s holding, based upon a Strickland2 analysis, would place the criminal defendant in the position of at least co-counsel in those circumstances where his desire to testify conflicts with the judgment of his lawyer. When that situation is presented, I believe that a Faretta3 scenario exists. As a result the trial court should provide the Faretta mandated cautionary instructions to the defendant, and the appellate court should judge the fairness of the proceedings using the same rules of review developed in the existing poSt-Far-etta jurisprudence.
The rationale for adopting a Faretta type of analysis — as opposed to a waiver methodology — is grounded in the similarity of the rights at issue; both the right of self-representation and the right to testify are “reciprocal” rights. The co-existing, opposing and, hence, reciprocal right to that of self-representation is the right to counsel. The reciprocal right to the right to testify is the right to remain silent guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. The jurisprudence with respect to such reciprocal rights recognizes that the more fragile of the reciprocal rights is the preeminent right. In the context of the reciprocal right to counsel, this court has accurately observed that the right to counsel “is preeminent over the right to self-representation because the former attaches automatically and must be waived affirmatively to be lost, while the latter does ‘not attach unless and until it [i]s asserted.’ ” Stano v. Dugger, 921 F.2d 1125, 1143 (11th Cir.1991) (en banc) (quoting Dorman v. Wainwright, 798 F.2d 1358, 1366 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 951, 107 S.Ct. 1616, 94 L.Ed.2d 801 (1987)).
*1538A preeminent right is one that is assumed to be currently operative and which may be abandoned by the assertion of the subordinate right. Id. Thus, the subordinate right must be invoked by the individual in order for it to attach. “Waiver of the right to counsel and invocation of the correlative right to self-representation is no simple matter, however.” Marshall v. Dugger, 925 F.2d 374, 376 (11th Cir.1991) (requiring a clear and unequivocal assertion of the right to pro se representation and a knowing and intelligent election to pursue that right).
The subordinate right need not, and cannot, be waived until it has attached. “While the right to counsel is in force until waived the right of self-representation does not attach until asserted.” Brown v. Wainwright, 665 F.2d 607, 610 (Former 5th Cir.1982). However, the invocation of the subordinate right serves as a waiver of the preeminent right. Stano, 921 F.2d at 1143. “The right to self-representation entails a waiver of the right to counsel, since a defendant obviously cannot enjoy both rights at trial. Because of the important and well-recognized benefits associated with the right to counsel, it is preeminent in the sense the right attaches unless affirmatively waived.” Brown, 665 F.2d at 610 (citations omitted). In examining various issues surrounding the right to self-representation, this circuit has had occasion several times to characterize the relationship between pro se representation and the right to counsel. Language illuminating the preeminence analysis or capturing the tension between these rights is set forth in several opinions of this court.4
*1539Precisely as the right to counsel is preeminent to its reciprocal right to pro se representation, the right to remain silent is preeminent to its reciprocal, less fragile right to testify. The right to silence is preeminent in the sense that it is the right that attaches at the time of arrest by means of the Miranda warning. The arrested individual is advised of the right to remain silent, and he is warned that anything he says can, and will, be used against him. The Supreme Court has protected that right by holding any prejudicial comment by the prosecutor to be a violation of the defendant’s fifth amendment right. Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 615, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 1233, 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1965); see Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976). This circuit recently applied this prohibition to a defendant’s silence after Miranda warnings and before trial. United States v. Gonzalez, 921 F.2d 1530, 1549 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 178, 116 L.Ed.2d 140 (1991). The right to remain silent is preeminent in the sense that it is the continuing and existing right during the pretrial period and the course of a trial.
This circuit has utilized a Faretta approach in dealing with the right to remain silent. We found that the defendant had waived his right to remain silent and the consequent protection of a prohibition of prosecutorial comment on that silence, by asserting his right to testify as to the issue of identity. After testifying, the prosecutor was then allowed to remark on the silence of the defendant as to those issues unrelated to identity. McGahee v. Massey, 667 F.2d 1357, 1362 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 943, 103 S.Ct. 255, 74 L.Ed.2d 199 (1982).
The right to remain silent is a preeminent right which exists throughout a trial until interrupted by an assertion of the right to testify. This conclusion is recognized in the Eleventh Circuit Pattern Jury Instruction which states: “The law does not require a Defendant to prove his innocence or produce any evidence at all; and if a Defendant elects not to testify, you should not consider that in any way during your deliberations.” Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions, Eleventh Circuit, Pattern Jury Instructions (Criminal Cases) Basic Instruction 2.2 (1985). The law of this circuit requires that this instruction be given if requested. United States v. Bain, 596 F.2d 120 (5th Cir.1979) (defendant who does not testify is entitled to instruction that no inference may be drawn from that election).
The Faretta decision and subsequent opinions applying its holding clearly establish that the right to self-representation is qualified by practical constraints. By analogy, these opinions provide guidance as to how the corresponding rights to remain silent and to testify on one’s own behalf can be subjected to practical constraints or deemed abandoned in the actual conduct of trials. “In the interest of minimizing disruptions and maintaining continuity at trial,” this circuit has adopted the rule that unless the right to conduct one’s defense pro se is timely asserted, any election to proceed pro se is committed to the discretion of the trial court. Chapman, 553 F.2d at 893; see also Cross v. United States, 893 F.2d 1287, 1290 (11th Cir.1990). Further, an effective invocation of the right to self-representation is conditioned upon a “clear and unequivocal declaration of the choice to proceed pro se.” Stano, 921 F.2d at 1143-44 (emphasis added); see Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541. Thus, the right to proceed pro se, albeit a fundamental and personal constitutional right, becomes a qualified right (that is, not absolute) depending upon the point in time at which the defendant undertakes to invoke that right. Moreover, the right to self-representation is conditional or inchoate in the sense that it remains unattached absent an affirmative invocation of sufficient clarity and certitude. The framework of timeliness and clarity considerations established by Faretta and its Eleventh Circuit progeny suggest that the subordinate right to testify — even when it is assigned the fundamental and personal character accorded the subordinate right to self-representation — may be subject to qualifications that acknowledge inevitable conflicts with the *1540right to remain silent and the practical realities of the trial process.
The settled rule is that the defendant seeking to proceed pro se must assert the right to do so prior to the commencement of trial; thereafter, any request to proceed without counsel is committed to the discretion of the trial court. Accordingly, the announcement of the constitutional right to self-representation in Faretta — in light of the Court’s silence as to the timeliness question in that case — did not in itself preclude consideration of the timing of the invocation of the right. This circuit, therefore, affirmed the trial court’s denial of a request to proceed pro se entered on the third day of trial in the post-Faretta case of Brown. See 665 F.2d at 611; see also Cross, 893 F.2d at 1291 n. 10 (noting that the trial court was within its authority to reject an “eleventh hour” request to proceed pro se — i.e., made “moments before the beginning of opening statements” — as untimely). Compare Stepp v. Estelle, 524 F.2d 447 (5th Cir.1975) (affirming trial court’s discharge of defendant’s two court-appointed attorneys upon defendant’s request, where the request was made after the beginning of voir dire examination) with Brown, 665 F.2d at 611.
In short, relevant decisions indicate that even after Faretta, the right to self-representation remains qualified by a timeliness requirement which vests the trial court with discretion to deny an untimely request to proceed pro se. This limitation on the exercise of the right to self-representation acknowledges the state’s interests in judicial convenience and the risk of disruption, as well as the hazard of too readily facilitating the exercise of a right when such exercise necessarily entails the waiver of another important — and more fragile— right. In Cross, we described the constitutional perils surrounding requests to proceed pro se, noting that
[bjecause self-representation necessarily entails the waiver of the sixth amendment right to counsel, a trial court can commit reversible constitutional error by either improperly granting a request to proceed pro se — and thereby depriving the individual of his right to counsel — or by denying a proper assertion of the right to represent oneself, and thereby violating Faretta.
Cross, 893 F.2d at 1290. The analogous subordinate nature of the right to testify suggests that this right, too, may be subject to appropriate qualifications consistent with the lessons of Faretta and its progeny.
This circuit “require[s] an individual to clearly and unequivocally assert the desire to represent himself.” Cross, 893 F.2d at 1290. Although the right to self-representation is fundamental and personal, “trial courts are not required to divine when a criminal defendant is proceeding pro se.” Stano, 921 F.2d at 1143. Rather, the defendant must make an affirmative assertion of the right. In order to assert the right to self-representation under Faretta,
a defendant does not need to recite some talismanic formula hoping to open the eyes and ears of the court to his request. Insofar as the desire to proceed pro se is concerned, petitioner must do no more than state his request, either orally or in writing, unambiguously to the court so that no reasonable person can say that the request was not made.
Stano, 921 F.2d at 1143. (emphasis omitted) (citing Dorman, 798 F.2d at 1366 (citations omitted)).
While no decision in this circuit recites the particulars that are needed for a request to constitute a clear and unequivocal assertion of the right, the Stano opinion explicitly rejects the effectiveness of mere constructive notice to the trial court. Id. at 1144. Furthermore, the factually diverse cases arising in this circuit since Faretta present examples of factors relevant in cases of actual notice to the court.5
*1541Ambiguity in the request for self-representation or a failure to diligently pursue the initial request have been held sufficient grounds for denial of the request, “in recognition of the thin line that a district court must traverse in evaluating demands to proceed pro se, and the knowledge that shrewd litigants can exploit this difficult constitutional area by making ambiguous self-representation claims to inject error into the record_” Cross, 893 F.2d at 1290.6 The clear rule that emerges from the cases in this circuit is that the right to proceed pro se will be deemed abandoned or unattached unless the defendant affirmatively asserts the right. This is consistent with the right’s subordinate character. Because any exercise of the right to self-representation entails a waiver of the preeminent right to counsel, courts must approach a defendant’s election to represent himself with caution, discharging counsel only where the defendant’s desire is clearly and unequivocally expressed. The subordinate character of the right to testify logically warrants the institution of parallel requirements for that right’s exercise, To conclude as I began, I concur in the result reached by the court today. I do so for the reasons stated by Judge Edmondson in his opinion. But if the majority is correct about the nature of the right to testify, the court’s approach on how that right is to be asserted properly is in error for the reasons I have undertaken to explain here.

.See United States v. Edwards, 897 F.2d 445 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 560, 112 L.Ed.2d 567 (1990); Siciliano v. Vose, 834 F.2d 29 (1st Cir.1987); United States v. Bernloehr, 833 F.2d 749 (8th Cir.1987); United States v. Systems Architects, Inc., 757 F.2d 373 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 847, 106 S.Ct. 139, 88 L.Ed.2d 115 (1985).

. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).

. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975).

. The following cases from this circuit and the former Fifth Circuit stress the reciprocal nature of the right to counsel and the right to self-representation. The observations made in those cases which follow are no less applicable to the reciprocal right to remain silent (the preeminent right) and the right to testify (the subordinate right).
Orazio v. Dugger, 876 F.2d 1508, 1512 (11th Cir.1989) (emphasis added):
In order for this right to attach, a defendant must voluntarily elect self-representation, by "knowingly and intelligently” waiving the reciprocal, constitutionally protected right to the assistance of counsel.
Strozier v. Newsome, 871 F.2d 995, 997 (11th Cir.1989) (emphasis added):
Since the Supreme Court announced its decision in Faretta there has been tension between the right to counsel and the right to self-representation. The tension exists because the rights are reciprocal: to assert one necessitates waiver of the other.
Dorman v. Wainwright, 798 F.2d 1358, 1366 (11th Cir.1986) (citing Brown, 665 F.2d at 610) cert. denied, 480 U.S. 951, 107 S.Ct. 1616, 94 L.Ed.2d 801 (1987):
[T]he right to counsel [i]s preeminent over the right to self-representation, in the sense that the former attache[s] automatically and ha[s] to be affirmatively waived to be lost whereas the latter d[oes] not attach unless and until it is asserted.
Id. at 1369 (emphasis added):
Under the law of this Circuit, it is much easier to waive one's right to self-representation than to waive other constitutional rights, such as the right to counsel.
Brown v. Wainwright, 665 F.2d 607, 610 (Former 5th Cir.1982) (en banc) (emphasis added):
The right of self-representation entails a waiver of the right to counsel, since a defendant obviously cannot enjoy both rights at trial. Because of the important and well-recognized benefits associated with the right to counsel, see e.g., Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25, 92 S.Ct. 2006, 32 L.Ed.2d 530 (1972); Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963), it is preeminent in the sense the right attaches unless affirmatively waived.
Brown, 665 F.2d at 610-11:
While the right to counsel is in force until waived, the right to self-representation does not attach until asserted.
* * * * * *
Unlike the right to counsel, the right of self-representation can be waived by defendant's mere failure to assert it.
Id. at 612 (Hill, J., dissenting) (joined by A.B. Rubin, Kravitch, Randall, Tate, T.A. Clark, J.S. Williams, JJ.) (emphasis added):
These two constitutional rights are mutually exclusive in their application; they cannot be exercised concurrently. Consequently, there must be some starting point when one right is considered to be in force, without any express exercise by a defendant, and the other right is excluded.
Chapman v. United States, 553 F.2d 886, 893 n. 12 (5th Cir.1977) (equating assertion of pro se right with waiver of right to counsel):
Even after the defendant has unequivocally asserted the right to defend pro se, he may waive that right. This represents in part the waiver of a waiver insofar as the defendant waives his right to waive appointed counsel.

. A direct and persistent election satisfies the minimum actions required of a defendant. See, e.g., Cross, 893 F.2d at 1291 (statement made to the court directly that “I want to be allowed to represent myself through this whole trial" was sufficiently clear and unambiguous, albeit compromised by subsequent ambiguous statements and probably untimely in any event); Strozier v. Newsome, 871 F.2d 995, 998-1000 (11th Cir.1989) (request directed through counsel to the *1541court on morning of trial was sufficient, although ambiguity as to knowing and intelligent character of waiver required remand); Orazio v. Dugger, 876 F.2d 1508, 1512 (11th Cir.1989) (direct statement to the court at hearing regarding appointed counsel’s request for withdrawal is a sufficient assertion, and failure to repeat request after denial and acquiescence in counsel’s subsequent representation does not obviate unequivocal nature of original request); Dorman, 798 F.2d at 1366-67 (defendant clearly invoked right where he filed motions pro se, informed the court by letter of desire of proceed pro se, and moved for dismissal of public defender; he did not abandon right merely by ceasing to send letters where he was apparently on the verge of contempt of court for his repeated letters and motions); Fitzpatrick v. Wainwright, 800 F.2d 1057, 1064-65 (11th Cir.1986) (defendant clearly asserted right by signing waiver of right to counsel and verbally reiterating his desire before the court); United States v. Edwards, 716 F.2d 822, 824 (11th Cir.1983) (motions filed by both the defendant and counsel seeking pro se representation sufficiently asserted the right); Chapman, 553 F.2d at 888 (two announcements to the court by defendant of his desire for self-representation constituted "unequivocal[ ]” assertion); Stepp v. Estelle, 524 F.2d 447, 450 (5th Cir.1975) (defendant’s request to see judge followed by conference in chambers concerning self-representation amounted to sufficient assertion of right).

. See, e.g., Cross, 893 F.2d at 1291 (defendant’s initial statement that “I want to be allowed to represent myself through this whole trial” was sufficiently clear and unambiguous, but subsequent comments evidenced a desire for hybrid representation, thereby giving rise to ambiguity such that the request did not constitute an election to proceed pro se); Raulerson v. Wainwright, 732 F.2d 803, 808-09 (11th Cir.) (although initial letter to the court requesting permission to proceed pro se, followed by in-court renewal of the request, was a sufficient invocation of the right, defendant’s conduct in walking out of the courtroom during the Faretta inquiry rendered the request either equivocal or effectively waived), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 966, 105 S.Ct. 366, 83 L.Ed.2d 302 (1984); Brown, 665 F.2d at 611 (although defendant’s counsel filed a pretrial motion stating that defendant waived his right to counsel, defendant actually waived his right to self-representation by virtue of his cooperation with counsel and failure to reassert the right after counsel informed the court that they had resolved their difficulties and the court denied the motion). See also Jackson v. James, 839 F.2d 1513, 1516 (11th Cir.1988) (defendant’s election to represent himself, when confronted by the trial court with a choice between self-representation and proceeding with the assistance of an attorney who had moved to withdraw on the morning of defendant’s trial, was not an invocation of the right to self-representation).