U.S. v. Woodard

Decision Date31 May 2002
Docket NumberNo. 01-2229.,01-2229.
Citation291 F.3d 95
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Deborah WOODARD, Defendant, Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Timothy G. Watkins, with whom Owen S. Walker, Federal Public Defender, was on brief for appellant.

John A. Wortmann, Jr., Assistant U.S. Attorney, with whom Michael J. Sullivan, United States Attorney, and George W. Vien, Assistant U.S. Attorney, were on brief for appellee.

Before LYNCH, Circuit Judge, CAMBPELL and BOWNES, Senior Circuit Judges.

BOWNES, Senior Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant Deborah Woodard appeals from a criminal judgment entered against her on the ground that she was deprived of counsel in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. On the eve of trial, Woodard requested substitution of counsel. The court refused and told Woodard that she could either continue with her present counsel or represent herself; if she represented herself, her counsel would remain available to help her if she wished. Later, the court told Woodard she could bring in new counsel if she could do so in time for trial. Woodard decided to represent herself at a suppression hearing and at trial, and the court dismissed counsel before the jury was selected.

A jury convicted Woodard of one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Although we are troubled by the district court's dismissal of Woodard's counsel, we hold that it did not rise to the level of reversible error. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

On November 16, 1999, a criminal complaint issued charging Woodard with possessing cocaine base with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Woodard was represented by a private attorney, Harold Hakala. On December 2, 1999, a federal grand jury in the District Court for the District of Massachusetts returned a one-count indictment charging Woodard with the aforementioned offense.

Over the next fourteen months, the district court held two scheduling and pretrial conferences that Woodard did not personally attend. Trials were scheduled for April 24, 2000, and for September 25, 2000, but both dates were continued when Woodard indicated she wished to change her plea. At least three change of plea hearings were scheduled, then continued.

At the second conference (styled as a "final" pretrial conference), on July 17, 2000, the district court set a trial date of September 25, 2000. The court set September 5 as the deadline by which Woodard should file a motion to suppress evidence. No such motion was filed. The trial did not take place on September 25, but instead was generally continued while a presentence investigation was conducted.

The next status conference was on January 3, 2001. Woodard was present at the hearing. The court announced that it was setting the case for trial on January 16, 2001. Hakala immediately made an oral motion to withdraw and communicated Woodard's request that the court appoint new counsel. He stated:

Your Honor, Ms. Woodard has made it clear to me that she would like to have counsel appointed to represent her from here on out. I am private counsel. I think that it's a fair representation to say that the attorney-client relationship has been difficult for several months. It's been strained. I've tried to keep it together. I don't mean to suggest that it's Ms. Woodard's fault that it's fallen apart, but I think it's reached a point where it's irretrievable breakdown. I think that in good conscience I could no longer continue to represent Ms. Woodard.

The court sought clarification from Woodard:

Ms. Woodard, again what passes between you and your attorney is private to you. And so by asking you questions myself, I'm not trying to get into what passes between you and your attorney. But this case is scheduled for trial. We've been ready — we've been getting this case ready for trial.

Now, I've scheduled the case for trial a week from Tuesday. Now, it's very surprising to me that now I hear for the first time that you want another lawyer. You tell me why — but you don't have to go into what passes between you — you tell me why you don't want this lawyer who's worked the case up to trial to represent you.

Woodard responded that "our relationship is strained and we're not having a good attorney-client relationship. It's not working out." The court asked what Woodard thought another lawyer would do for her that her attorney was not doing. Woodard replied that "[M]aybe I would just feel a little bit more comfortable with another relationship. It's just not working out for me." The court asked, "Is that it?" and Woodard answered affirmatively. The court denied the oral motion:

This seems to me to be a transparent effort at the eleventh hour to get a continuance. It's denied.

Now, he's your attorney, he's who you have selected as your attorney, and the case is going to trial a week from Tuesday on the 16th. Now, that's the motion, it's denied.

Hakala attempted to intercede:

Respectfully, I think Ms. Woodard, I'm just guessing, but I have a sense — I appreciate your viewpoint. I mean, it's well-founded. Obviously, she hasn't said anything specific. She has lost complete confidence in me. She's probably — she may be embarrassed to even say that in open court. But I'm not afraid to say it. She's expressed it to me many times. We can't even — there is — there are many times that counsel finds himself in a position with a strained relationship, if you will, between his client and himself. It's happened many times, it's okay, and I've gone forward that way. This is a case where I don't think that Ms. Woodard will be best served by having me as counsel at trial. She has no confidence. She has challenged everything I've done, frankly. And that's okay, but she's done so with a view that I'm not doing what's right. And it's gone on for months. And so perhaps I've been remiss in not bringing it forward earlier to the Court's attention and let you know that there is a strained relationship, but I thought maybe we could proceed. It looked like it was going to be a plea. We had done some preliminary work on some other issues. They fell through.

The court responded:

Well, I ask her, I ask her what the problem is and she says she would feel more comfortable. That's not a ground for, at this time, changing lawyers.

Now, the fact is she may disagree with you. But I assume you're working with what you have in this case and I have no reason to impugn either your competence or your preparedness and, therefore, there's no reason in the interests of justice to continue this trial. I don't hear any. She elected you initially. We're going forward on the 16th.

On January 16, 2001, Hakala again reported to the district court that he felt he couldn't represent Woodard, stating that she was now refusing to speak with him. Hakala submitted a letter from Woodard addressed to the court:

The issue between Mr. Hakala and myself is: I would like to have a suppression hearing before I go to trial or plea. I have asked Mr. Hakala several times about obtaining a complete discovery package that would show the police report of the couple who made the alleged statements against me. The drug analysis and the disposition of their cases. Also my travel documents that would show when I was out of the country. Mr. Hakala feels that I would lose the motion based on a appeal that he lost. Commonwealth v. Singer, that is his thought based on his defeat. There are enough mitigating factors to warrant a different situation in my case. On Jan. 3th when we came to court I wanted to filed a motion to suppress, he wanted me to plea guilty. Because we cannot agree, he asked to be removed from the case, I asked for new counsel.

We only had 5 minutes to talk down stairs because transportation was waiting. I called on Monday, but there was an emergency code in the prison and I could only talk for a few minutes. I try to call on Tues. & Wed. No answer. On Thur. I spoke to his secretary who informed me Mr. Hakala would be in court all day, "to call back Fri. at one clock" [sic]. I called Friday, she answered the phone and hung up, I called right back she hung up again. I called at two clock she answered and said that "Mr. Hakala left for the day" and said "he would see me in court Tuesday".

As I beg your honor for compassion due to the abrasive & disconcerting attitude of my counsel, whom has manifested his biasness toward me, even extending to deny me access to minimal verbal communications as before mentioned. The time that has been left is insufficient. Nothing in the least has been resolved. The Courts position Justice for all extendeds to the latlitude of discretion for counsel to the accussed. Justice in the broadest sense of the word, would be denied me, if an opportunity to secure competent legal advice isn't obtained. I have no faith in my counsel. I am therefore asking the U.S. Court to assist & allow me a new counsell, to pick up from this point and move forward to the conclusion of

(Punctuation and paragraph format added; errors in original.) The letter breaks off in mid-sentence and is signed by Woodard. Woodard also handed the court a second letter, from Hakala to her, which responded to her inquiry regarding a suppression motion six months earlier. The court treated Woodard's letter to the court as a Motion to Change Counsel, which it denied.

After reading the letter, the district court began questioning Woodard directly about evidence suppression issues. Woodard questioned the affidavit in support of a search warrant used to seize evidence in her case. Cautioning that it was not getting involved in plea bargaining, the district court asked the government if it might allow Woodard to tender a conditional plea. The court explained the mechanics of a conditional...

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