Broome v. State

687 N.E.2d 590, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 1655, 1997 WL 707073
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 14, 1997
Docket29A05-9604-CR-131
StatusPublished
Cited by354 cases

This text of 687 N.E.2d 590 (Broome v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Broome v. State, 687 N.E.2d 590, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 1655, 1997 WL 707073 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

BARTEAU, Judge.

Adrian Broome appeals his conviction, following a jury trial, of voluntary manslaughter, a Class A felony. He has raised the following issues:

1. Was the trial court required to respond to Broome’s request for a speedy trial?
2. Did Broome receive ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial?
3. Did the trial judge abuse his discretion when he presided over a change of judge hearing when he was the judge who was sought to be changed?
4. Did the trial judge abuse his discretion when he denied a request for change of judge?
5. Did the trial judge err when he denied Broome’s motion for change of venue? ■
6. Did the trial judge erroneously admit evidence of Broome’s confession and of other statements which Broome made in the presence of law enforcement officers?
7. Did the trial judge err when he refused to admit evidence proffered by Broome?
8. Were the trial court’s jury instructions erroneous?
*594 9. Did the trial judge err when he refused to provide the jury with an involuntary manslaughter instruction?
10. Was the evidence sufficient to support Broome’s conviction?
11. Was Broome prejudiced by the trial judge’s reliance on the presentence investigation report?
12. Is Broome’s 45-year prison sentence manifestly unreasonable?
We affirm.

THE FACTS

The facts which are most favorable to the verdict indicate that on April 9, 1995, Joe Murray was driving his truck in Anderson, Indiana. Seeing Adrian Broome standing on a sidewalk, Murray stopped his truck and offered Broome a ride. Broome got into the truck, and Murray eventually drove him from Anderson to Hamilton County.

In Hamilton County, Murray parked his truck on a country road. When the truck was parked, Murray attempted to perform oral sex on Broome. Attempting to repel this sexual advance, Broome pointed a gun at Murray. The two men then struggled for possession of the gun. During the struggle, Broome hit Murray in the head with the gun and shot Murray in the face. Murray died from his gunshot wound. His body, which had fallen out of the truck when Broome opened its door, was later found to be resting on that portion of the country road where the truck had been parked. Broome drove the truck away from the scene of Murray’s death and left it in Anderson at Shadyside Park.

Broome, when he was questioned by police, confessed that he shot and killed Murray. He was charged with murder, and, in a jury trial, he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Broome was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

REQUEST FOR A SPEEDY TRIAL

Broome asserts that the trial court erred when it failed to respond to his request for a speedy trial. At his pretrial hearing of June 15, 1995, Broome attempted to address the court, but he was not permitted to do so. He wished to request a speedy trial under Indiana Criminal Rule 4(B)(1), and his counsel made the court aware of this. .

Broome claims that he made a pro se motion when he requested' a speedy trial at his pretrial hearing. But Broome, because he was represented by counsel when he made his request, could not have been acting pro se. “[A]s a practical matter, a decision to proceed to trial with counsel is necessarily a relinquishment of the pro se right, and vice-versa.” Russell v. State, 270 Ind. 55, 59, 383 N.E.2d 309, 312 (1978).

Because Broome requested a speedy trial when he was represented by counsel, the trial court was not required to respond to his request. When a defendant is represented by an attorney and attempts to file a pro se motion,- it is “within the trial court’s discretion to accept and respond to it or to strike it.” Kindred v. State, 521 N.E.2d 320, 325 (Ind.1988). Broome claims that Kindred does not give the trial court discretion to ignore his speedy trial request; he argues that Kindred limits a trial court’s discretion to the ability to strike, or to accept and respond to, a represented defendant’s request. We are not persuaded by this argument. “Where defendants attempt a sort of ‘hybrid representation’ ..., representing themselves as co-counsel along with their attorneys, the question is one in which the trial judge exercises wide discretion because no constitutional right to hybrid representation exists.” Bradberry v. State, 266 Ind. 530, 537, 364 N.E.2d 1183, 1187 (1977). In order to properly effectuate the wide discretion a trial court enjoys in instances of hybrid representation, a trial court’s discretion must not only consist of the ability to strike, or to accept and respond to, a represented defendant’s request, but must also include the ability to ignore such a request. The trial court therefore did not err when it failed to respond to Broome’s request. 1

*595 ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

Broome claims that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney, at the pretrial hearing, failed to move for the speedy trial which Broome requested.

In order to show ineffective assistance of counsel, Appellant must establish [1] that counsel’s performance was deficient and [2] that such deficiency prejudiced his case. Appellant must show that in light of the circumstances, the identified acts or omissions of counsel were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance consistent with elaborated prevailing professional norms. He must further show there is a reasonable probability but for counsel’s unprofessional error the result of the proceedings would have been different.

Haggenjos v. State, 493 N.E.2d 448, 451 (Ind.1986). “It shall be strongly presumed that counsel rendered adequate assistance and made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment.” Steele v. State, 536 N.E.2d 292, 293 (Ind.1989).

At his motion hearing of August 10, 1995, Broome made it clear to the court and to his attorney that it had been his intention, at his pretrial hearing, to request a speedy trial. Broome claims that his attorney, because he knew of Broome’s request and nevertheless failed to move for a speedy trial, exhibited performance which was inconsistent with prevailing professional norms and which was therefore deficient. To support his claim, he stresses that an attorney “shall abide by a client’s decisions concerning the objectives of representation ... and shall consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued.” Ind. Professional Conduct Rule 1.2(a). 2

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
687 N.E.2d 590, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 1655, 1997 WL 707073, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/broome-v-state-indctapp-1997.