Leonard v. State
| Decision Date | 01 September 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 55,55 |
| Citation | 486 A.2d 163,302 Md. 111 |
| Parties | John Lee LEONARD a/k/a Samad Abdul Taawwab v. STATE of Maryland. , |
| Court | Maryland Court of Appeals |
Arthur A. DeLano, Jr., Asst. Public Defender, Baltimore (Alan H. Murrell, Public Defender, Baltimore, on the brief), for appellant.
Ann E. Singleton, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baltimore (Stephen H. Sachs, Atty. Gen., Baltimore, on the brief), for appellee.
Argued before MURPHY, C.J., and SMITH, ELDRIDGE, COLE, DAVIDSON, * RODOWSKY and COUCH, JJ.
The issue in this case is whether the trial court was required to conduct a waiver of counsel inquiry before allowing the defendant to proceed pro se.
The facts are as follows. John Lee Leonard was indicted for possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, simple possession, and conspiracy. Keith Krissoff entered his appearance as Leonard's assigned public defender.
On May 21, 1982, a hearing was held in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County on Leonard's motion to suppress evidence. Leonard was not present. Sergeant Russell Hall of the Annapolis Police Department testified that he received information from a confidential informant that Leonard was selling heroin from a blue Grand Prix with New York registration in the vicinity of Clay and Washington Streets in Annapolis. Sergeant Hall found Leonard who, after some preliminary negotiations, sold Sergeant Hall "a pharmacy fold" of purported cocaine for fifty dollars. When the officer realized that the pharmacy fold was empty, he signaled his back-up unit to arrest Leonard. The automobile was taken to the Annapolis Police Station where a search conducted pursuant to a search warrant revealed thirteen glassine envelopes of heroin. The Circuit Court denied Leonard's motion to suppress this evidence.
When the court called Leonard's case for trial on May 25, 1982, he requested a postponement to locate a witness known to him only by the name of "Fish." The trial court denied his request in the following colloquy with Leonard:
Immediately after this exchange, Leonard unsuccessfully attempted to leave the courtroom. After sheriffs restrained him, Leonard explained that, Leonard then tried to leave the courtroom, but was again physically restrained by sheriffs. The court ordered the sheriffs to remove Leonard from the courtroom, and indicated that the trial would continue with Leonard outside the courtroom but that Krissoff could consult with Leonard whenever Krissoff liked.
Upon completing the voir dire of prospective jurors, the trial court allowed Krissoff to consult with Leonard concerning the remaining peremptory strikes and to ascertain whether Leonard wanted to return to the courtroom. After Krissoff consulted with Leonard, the following exchange transpired:
When Leonard returned to the courtroom, he advised the court that he wanted to conduct his own defense:
(Mr. Leonard's diction is not proper.)
After the jury was selected and sworn, the trial court stated:
The defendant has chosen to represent himself ... which is his privilege. I have ordered [Krissoff] to stay at the table for Mr. Leonard to consult or not to consult as he sees fit with his attorney of record. That's up to him. But he has indicated that he wishes to conduct his own defense and the court obviously is going to permit him to do that.
The trial then proceeded, with Leonard acting as his own counsel. Leonard made opening and closing statements to the jury, interposed objections, cross-examined the prosecution's witnesses, and called two witnesses in his own defense. The trial court advised Leonard of his right to remain silent and made a motion for a directed verdict on his behalf.
At the conclusion of the case, the court asked Krissoff if he wished any particular jury instructions. Leonard interposed: "I'd like to state again that Mr. Krissoff is not representing me and he's not no legal advisor for me." Finally, Krissoff answered the question, summarizing his participation in the trial:
MR. KRISSOFF: Your Honor, I'd like it put on the record that Mr. Leonard has indicated that he doesn't want me to represent him. I know the court has ordered me to be here. I've been here, available for consultation, but out of respect for Mr. Leonard and his desire to proceed on his own, he has indicated he wants me to make no objections, to make no statements to the court, to make no statements to the jury ... I have honored his request and the court will note that throughout the trial I made no objections, even though I would have, obviously, had I been conducted the trial ... because that is Mr. Leonard's wish with regard to my participation in the case. I am going to honor that wish. I think the court should, obviously, instruct as it sees fit.
The jury convicted Leonard of possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance and conspiracy, and the court sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment to run consecutive to any sentence Leonard was then serving. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in an unreported per curiam opinion filed March 23, 1983, reasoning that Leonard's We granted certiorari to determine the issue presented.
Two independent constitutional rights are involved in this case: the right to be represented by counsel and the right to defend pro se. The rights are mutually exclusive and the defendant cannot assert both simultaneously. The United States Supreme Court and other courts throughout the nation have thus sought to protect the right to counsel unless the defendant properly asserts his right to represent himself. The assertion of this right is conditioned upon a valid waiver of the right to assistance of counsel.
In Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 71, 53 S.Ct. 55, 65, 77 L.Ed. 158, 171-72 (1932), the Supreme Court held that the right to assistance of counsel was guaranteed by the sixth and fourteenth...
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