Com. v. Chapman

• Decision Date: 16 August 1979
• Citation: Com. v. Chapman, 392 N.E.2d 1213, 8 Mass.App.Ct. 260 (Mass. App. 1979)
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. Conler CHAPMAN.
• Court: Appeals Court of Massachusetts

Page 1213

392 N.E.2d 1213

8 Mass.App.Ct. 260

COMMONWEALTH v.Conler CHAPMAN.

Appeals Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

Argued May 14, 1979.

Decided Aug. 16, 1979.

Willie J. Davis, Boston, for defendant.

Brian J. Dobie, Asst. Dist. Atty. (Laurie Peterson, Legal Asst. (Law Student), with him), for the Commonwealth.

Before HALE, C. J., and ARMSTRONG, and KASS, JJ.

HALE, Chief Justice.

The defendant appeals (G.L. c. 278, §§ 33A-33G) from his convictions following a jury trial on three indictments, two charging rape (G.L. c. 265, § 22) and one charging robbery (G.L. c. 265, § 19).He argues numerous assignments of error, only two of which we need address.The jury could have found the following facts.

On August 12, 1977, at about 5:15 P.M. the defendant approached the victim, an eighteen year old woman, as she stood in a bar.She recognized the defendant, whom she had met briefly about three weeks earlier.She declined his offer to smoke a marijuana cigarette with him.The victim then left the bar and walked to a bus stop.The defendant approached her as she waited there and again asked if she wished to smoke marijuana.She again declined to do so.After a moment or two, the defendant grabbed the victim's arm and guided her to the door of a nearby apartment, while holding her hand twisted behind her back.The defendant knocked on the door, and the two entered the apartment.Inside they met a resident of the apartment, one Daniels, along with his mother, Mrs. Daniels, and her boyfriend.After a short time, Mrs. Daniels, her boyfriend and then Daniels himself left the apartment.As Daniels left, the victim twice started to open the door in an attempt to leave the apartment, but the defendant kicked the door shut both times.The defendant then grabbed the victim, wrestled with her briefly and forced her into the bedroom.There were two beds in the bedroom, one of which was occupied by one Rosario, the other resident of the apartment, who had passed out there after drinking too much alcohol.In the bedroom the defendant removed his clothing while the victim, in response to the defendant's order, did the same.She got into the empty bed when he demanded that she do so but tried to kick him when he jumped on top of her.She pleaded with the defendant to let her leave.The defendant refused to let the victim leave and against her will engaged in numerous acts of vaginal and oral intercourse with her over the course of that night and the next morning.

Rosario awoke about fifteen minutes after the two entered the room, saw that the defendant was having intercourse with a woman he did not then recognize, and left the apartment.The victim noticed Rosario but made no attempt to cry out to him because of her fear.Early in the morning the victim saw three men with whom she was acquainted climb into the apartment through a window.She was again too frightened to speak out.

In the morning the defendant forced the victim to give him four rings and a watch she was wearing.Daniels and Rosario, who had returned to the apartment, noticed that the victim looked sick and upset that morning.When asked about her condition, she indicated that nothing was wrong.

At about 10:30 A.M. the victim and the defendant left the apartment.The victim walked away from the defendant without his objection and proceeded to the home of a friend, one Taco, and told him that she had been raped.After a brief attempt by Taco and others to locate the defendant at the apartment where the rape had occurred, the police arrived and learned of the rape from the victim.

1.The defendant argues that the judge should have directed a verdict in his favor on the rape indictments because insufficient evidence of the victim's lack of consent had been adduced to warrant submission of those charges to the jury."The appellate standard of review is whether the evidence, read in a light most favorable to the Commonwealth . . . is sufficient so that the jury 'might properly draw inferences, not too remote in the ordinary course of events, or forbidden by any rule of law, and conclude upon all the established circumstances and warranted inferences that the guilt of the defendant was proved beyond a reasonable doubt.' "Commonwealth v. Clifford, --- Mass. ---, --- - ---^A, 372 N.E.2d 1267, 1271(1978), and cases cited, quoting from Commonwealth v. Vellucci, 284 Mass. 443, 445, 187 N.E. 909(1933).We have related in the preceding statement the facts which could have been found by the jury.The judge's denial of the motion for a directed verdict was right.CompareCommonwealth v. Coderre, 360 Mass. 869, 277 N.E.2d 677(1971).

2.The defendant argues that the judge violated his right of self-representation, as guaranteed by the Federal and State Constitutions, when he denied the defendant's oral motion to conduct his own defense.The record discloses that on January 30, 1978, the defendant filed a pro se motion to have the court allowMr. Willie J. Davis(who had been appointed to represent the defendant on December 20, 1977, following the defendant's dismissal of his original counsel) to withdraw as his counsel and to appoint a new attorney to represent him.¹At a hearing held on the motion on May 24, 1978, the defendant indicated that he desired to represent himself at trial should the court disallow the motion.The judge recognized the defendant's right to proceed pro se and stated that he would not interfere with the defendant's attempt to do so.The judge denied the motion "without prejudice" and announced that "this case is going to proceed next week."The defendant responded, "Okay, if that's your position at this point, then I will just go ahead pro se."Following a discussion concerning the transfer of records to the defendant from Mr. Davis the judge directed the defendant to file a personal appearance and a motion to proceed pro se.The judge stated that upon their filing he would have a hearing on them.

On May 30, the first day of trial, the defendant had filed a written motion to be allowed to sit at counsel table but had not filed an appearance or a motion for leave to proceed pro se.While arguing the motion for leave to sit at counsel table, the defendant stated that he had decided to defend himself.The judge then noted that there was no formal motion before him to that effect and that the defendant had not filed an appearance.In the course of the colloquy which followed the defendant stated, "I would like to enter at this time, your Honor, an oral motion to proceed pro se rather than have someone I feel that is as detrimental not only to me but to the case, and, rather than do that, I'd go ahead, not knowing too much about the judicial process, but certainly feeling better myself than having someone who I know I am in opposition to to represent me, someone I don't feel is going to represent me, someone who won't do an adequate job so far as I am concerned."The judge then denied the motion.Moments later, in what appears to have been an attempt to have the judge reconsider the denial, the defendant called the judge's attention to Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562(1975), and read excerpts from it as reported in a newspaper.After some further argument the colloquy set out in the margin occurred.²At no time did the defendant ask that he be granted a continuance to prepare himself, nor did he state explicitly that he was willing to go ahead without delay if his request should be granted.The judge denied the defendant's oral motion without conducting an inquiry on the matter of delay, stating that Mr. Davis was prepared to proceed, that the defendant had failed to sustain any grounds for removing Mr. Davis as his counsel, and that the motion had been made too late for consideration by the court.During the empanelling of the jury the defendant attempted personally to use all of the peremptory challenges available to him to remove the jurors who had been seated.When the testimonial part of the trial was about to begin, Mr. Davis suggested that the defendant be excluded from the courtroom in the event that he should interrupt the proceedings.The judge agreed to do so should such event occur.After that time the defendant made no uncalled-for comment in open court and in no way disrupted the trial.

A defendant in a criminal case has a right, guaranteed by art. 12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights (Commmonwealth v. Mott, 2 Mass.App.Ct. 47, 50-51, 308 N.E.2d 557(1974)), and by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, to conduct his own defense at trial.Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. at 818, 95 S.Ct. 2525.This right of self-representation "is not wholly unqualified."Commonwealth v. Mott, 2 Mass.App.Ct. at 51, 308 N.E.2d 557.The defendant must assert the right in a timely and unequivocal manner.Id. at 51, 308 N.E.2d 557.United States v. Kizer, 569 F.2d 504, 507(9th Cir.), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 976, 98 S.Ct. 1626, 56 L.Ed.2d 71(1978).He must knowingly and intelligently invoke the right (Commonwealth v. Mott, 2 Mass.App.Ct. at 51, 308 N.E.2d 557) and validly waive his right to counsel.Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. 2525.Normally the trial judge should conduct some sort of inquiry once the defendant has made a timely and unequivocal request in order to ascertain the defendant's motives for asserting the right and his awareness of the risks of proceeding pro se.Commonwealth v. Mott, 2 Mass.App.Ct. at 52, 308 N.E.2d 557.United States v. Plattner, 330 F.2d 271, 276(2d Cir.1964).

The defendant here properly asserted his right of self-representation.His motion to proceed pro se was timely because it was made before the start of the empanelling of the jury, generally recognized as the point at which the trial begins.Commonwealth v. Mott, 2 Mass.App.Ct. at 51, 308 N.E.2d 557.United States ex rel. Maldonado v. Denno, 348 F.2d 12,...