Robinson v. State

376 S.W.3d 484, 2010 Ark. App. 430, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 454
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMay 19, 2010
DocketNo. CA CR 09-1206
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 376 S.W.3d 484 (Robinson v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robinson v. State, 376 S.W.3d 484, 2010 Ark. App. 430, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 454 (Ark. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

LARRY D. VAUGHT, Chief Judge.

| Connell Robinson was convicted of committing a terroristic act and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to two consecutive thirty-year terms of imprisonment and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. On appeal, Robinson argues that (1) the trial court erred in finding that he waived his right to counsel, (2) the trial court denied his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by denying his motion for a continuance and failing to render a timely ruling on his oral motion to dismiss his appointed counsel, (8) the prosecutor’s closing arguments were prejudicial and denied him a fair trial, (4) reversible error occurred when evidence of a 1994 conviction was introduced, and (5) the trial court erred in permitting the jury to consider a sentencing enhancement. We hold that Robinson’s first point has merit; therefore, we reverse and remand.

On April 6, 2008, several individuals witnessed Robinson walk over to a vehicle being | ¡.driven by Joe Allen Plummer and fire a gun at it several times. After he was arrested, Robinson was appointed a public defender, and a jury trial was scheduled for December 2008. At some point, another public defender, Joseph Mazzanti, III, assumed representation of Robinson. Due to a conflict with Mazzan-ti’s schedule, the jury trial was reset for February 2009.

At a pre-trial hearing, Robinson requested a ninety-day continuance to hire a different lawyer based on his dissatisfaction with Mazzanti. The trial court denied Robinson’s request. The February jury trial was thereafter twice continued at the request of the State, with a resulting trial date of April 28, 2009. At a pre-trial hearing on April 13, 2009, Robinson again requested additional time to hire his own attorney. He stated that if he, or his mother, could not hire an attorney, he would represent himself.' The trial court took the matter under advisement. On April 28, 2009, during a pre-trial in camera hearing, the trial court found that Robinson waived his right to counsel, granted Robinson’s motion to represent himself, and appointed Mazzanti as stand-by counsel. The jury trial went forward, and Robinson handled every aspect of the proceeding — except for Mazzanti’s questioning of Robinson. The jury convicted Robinson.

Robinson’s first point on appeal is that the trial court erred in finding that he made an effective waiver of his right to counsel. The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, made obligatory on the States by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, guarantees an accused the right to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 342-44, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963). Article 2, section 10, of the Arkansas Constitution provides that an accused in a criminal prosecution has the right to be heard by himself and his counsel. Barnes v. State, 258 Ark. 565, 568, 528 S.W.2d 370, 373 (1975). No sentence involving |sloss of liberty can be imposed where there has been a denial of counsel. White v. State, 277 Ark. 429, 432, 642 S.W.2d 304, 306 (1982). On the other hand, a criminal defendant has a right to represent himself at trial where his waiver of the right to counsel is knowingly and intelligently made. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 835, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975). The Supreme Court of the United States has addressed the right of a criminal defendant to conduct his own defense as follows:

When an accused manages his own defense, he relinquishes, as a purely factual matter, many of the traditional benefits associated with the right to counsel. For this reason, in order to represent himself, the accused must “knowingly and intelligently” forgo those relinquished benefits. Although a defendant need not himself have the skill and experience of a lawyer in order competently and intelligently to choose self-representation, he should be 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. at 835, 95 S.Ct. 2525 (internal citations omitted).

A defendant may proceed pro se in a criminal case when (1) the request to waive the right to counsel is unequivocal and timely asserted, (2) there has been a knowing and intelligent waiver of the right to counsel, and (3) the defendant has not engaged in conduct that would prevent the fair and orderly exposition of the issues. Bledsoe v. State, 337 Ark. 403, 406, 989 S.W.2d 510, 512 (1999). Our standard of review is whether the trial court’s finding that the waiver of rights was knowingly and intelligently made was clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Pierce v. State, 362 Ark. 491, 497, 209 S.W.3d 364, 367 (2005). Robinson argues that his right-to-counsel waiver was not unequivocal, knowing, or intelligent.

Determining whether an intelligent waiver of the right to counsel has been made depends in each case on the particular facts and circumstances, including the background, the experience, |4and the conduct of the accused. Bledsoe, 337 Ark. at 407, 989 S.W.2d at 512. Every reasonable presumption must be indulged against the waiver of fundamental constitutional rights. Id., 989 S.W.2d at 512. A specific warning of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation, or a record showing that the defendant possessed such required knowledge from other sources, is required to establish the validity of a waiver. Id., 989 S.W.2d at 512-13. The burden is upon the State to show that an accused voluntarily and intelligently waived his fundamental right to the assistance of counsel. Hatfield v. State, 346 Ark. 319, 325, 57 S.W.3d 696, 700 (2001).

The “constitutional minimum” for determining whether a waiver was knowing and intelligent is that the accused be made sufficiently aware of his right to have counsel present and of the possible consequences of a decision to forgo the aid of counsel. Hatfield, 346 Ark. at 326, 57 S.W.3d at 700-01 (emphasis added). In Bledsoe, our supreme court wrote:

The record does not reflect that the trial court advised Mr. Bledsoe of the dangers and disadvantages of proceeding without an attorney. While Mr. Bledsoe was informed several times about the requirement that he follow the rules and procedures of court, he was given no explanation as to the consequences of failing to comply with those rules, such as the inability to secure the admission or exclusion of evidence, or the failure to preserve arguments for appeal. There was simply no discussion about the substantive risks of proceeding without counsel.

337 Ark. at 409, 989 S.W.2d at 513. Similarly, in Parker v. State, this court reversed because the trial court “did not make an inquiry as to [the defendant’s] understanding of the legal process, and it did not specifically warn [him] of the substantive risks of proceeding without counsel.” 93 Ark. App. 472, 480, 220 S.W.3d 238

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Related

Robinson v. State
2017 Ark. App. 377 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2017)
Ellis v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
2016 Ark. App. 318 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
376 S.W.3d 484, 2010 Ark. App. 430, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 454, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-state-arkctapp-2010.