Daniel Arvizu MORENO, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Terry L. STEWART; Attorney General for the State of Arizona, Respondents-Appellants

171 F.3d 658, 1999 WL 140733
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 17, 1999
Docket97-17238
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 171 F.3d 658 (Daniel Arvizu MORENO, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Terry L. STEWART; Attorney General for the State of Arizona, Respondents-Appellants) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daniel Arvizu MORENO, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Terry L. STEWART; Attorney General for the State of Arizona, Respondents-Appellants, 171 F.3d 658, 1999 WL 140733 (9th Cir. 1999).

Opinions

Opinion by Judge SNEED; Dissent by Judge TASHIMA.

SNEED, Circuit Judge:

Arizona prison warden Terry Stewart and the State of Arizona (“respondents”) appeal from the decision of the District Court for the District of Arizona, Judge Robert C. Broomfield, granting the habeas corpus petition of state prisoner Daniel Arvizu Moreno (“petitioner”). The district court held that the Arizona state trial court’s colloquy with petitioner failed to establish that petitioner knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waived his Sixth Amendment right to counsel and reversed petitioner’s 36-year sentence for armed robbery. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 and reverse.

BACKGROUND

On August 1, 1979, petitioner was indicted in Maricopa County on one count of armed robbery. He was arrested on November 29, 1979, and the trial court appointed the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office to represent him.

Petitioner subsequently was transferred to prison in Pima County to stand trial on unrelated armed robbery and aggravated assault charges. He later escaped from jail and was rearrested on March 6, 1980. He was tried and convicted in Pima County and sentenced to 144 years in prison; his present petition does not affect that sentence.

After his conviction in Pima County, petitioner was transferred back to Maricopa County jail. Petitioner was unhappy with three different public defenders assigned to represent him; the public defender’s office and trial court accommodated his first two requests and reassigned his case to new counsel. However, the third time that petitioner appeared before the trial court complaining of his counsel, the judge refused to assign petitioner another attorney after concluding that petitioner failed to articulate a legitimate reason as to why he was dissatisfied with counsel.

On February 2, 1981, petitioner informed the trial court that he wanted to represent himself. The trial court conducted two separate colloquies with petitioner and subsequently granted his motion.3 The judge appointed a public defender as “amicus curiae” counsel for petitioner for the duration of the trial.

A jury found petitioner guilty on February 19, 1981, and the trial court sentenced him to a 36-year sentence to run concurrently with the 144-year sentence imposed in Pima County. Petitioner appealed the conviction and the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed.

[660]*660Petitioner filed the instant petition ten years after his conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Arizona Supreme Court. He alleged that the trial court improperly allowed him to proceed without counsel. The magistrate judge below recommended that the district court grant the petition; the district court agreed. Respondents now appeal that decision.

ANALYSIS

Respondents contend that the district court erred in concluding that (1) a state trial court is constitutionally compelled under the Sixth Amendment to engage in a colloquy with the accused that mirrors the one set forth by this Court in United States v. Balough, 820 F.2d 1485 (9th Cir.1987), and (2) petitioner did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to counsel. We agree with respondents’ arguments and reverse.

A. Required Inquiry Under Faretta.

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “the accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.” U.S. Const, amend. VI. In Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), the Supreme Court announced that the Sixth Amendment also provides a correlative right to self-representation. Before a trial court will allow an accused to exercise the right of self-representation, it must conclude that the accused has “knowingly and intelligently” waived his underlying right to counsel. Id. at 835, 95 S.Ct. at 2541, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (quoting Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464-65, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1022, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938)). Consequently, a trial court must ensure that the accused has been “made aware of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation, so that the record will establish that ‘he knows what he is doing and his choice is made with eyes open.’ ” Id. (quoting Adams v. United States ex rel. McCann, 317 U.S. 269, 279, 63 S.Ct. 236, 242, 87 L.Ed. 268 (1942)).4

This Court, beginning with its decision in United States v. Dujanovic, 486 F.2d 182 (9th Cir.1973), which preceded the Supreme Court’s opinion in Faretta by one year, has required federal trial courts to conclude that a defendant has knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to counsel before allowing him to proceed pro se. In Dujanovic, this Court set forth a recommended colloquy that a district court conduct with a defendant before the court conclude that the defendant has waived his right to counsel. Specifically, this Court instructed a district court to inquire whether “the waiver was knowingly and intelligently made, with an understanding of the charges, the possible penalties, and the dangers of self-representation.” United States v. Harris, 683 F.2d 322, 324 (9th Cir.1982) (citing Dujanovic, 486 F.2d at 188). One year later, in Faretta, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of waiver of the right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment and concluded that a trial court must be satisfied that a defendant wishing to proceed without the assistance of counsel “knows what he is doing and” makes “his choice ... with eyes open.” 422 U.S. at 832, 95 S.Ct. at 2541, 45 L.Ed.2d 562. The Court made no mention of the Dujanovic opinion nor did it set forth the guidelines articulated in Dujano-vic as required procedure for a trial court to follow before it concludes that a defendant has “knowingly and intelligently” waived his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

Notwithstanding Faretta, this Court in United States v. Balough, 820 F.2d 1485 (9th Cir.1987), again set forth the “preferred procedure” for a federal district [661]*661court to follow before it allows a defendant in federal court to waive his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. We stated that

a district court should not grant a defendant’s request to waive representation of counsel and serve as his own counsel, without discussing with the defendant, in open court, whether the waiver was knowingly and intelligently made, with an understanding of the charges, the possible penalties, and the dangers of self-representation. This is clearly the preferable procedure and should be followed by district courts in every case.

Balough, 820 F.2d at 1488 (quoting Harris, 683 F.2d at 324).

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