State v. Hawkins, 2009 Opinion No. 79 (Idaho App. 12/30/2009)
| Citation | 2009 Opinion No. 79 |
| Decision Date | 30 December 2009 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 35281. |
| Parties | STATE OF IDAHO, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. FARON RAYMOND HAWKINS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the District Court of the Fourth Judicial District, State of Idaho, Ada County. Hon. Michael R. McLaughlin, District Judge.
Judgment of conviction for robbery, vacated and case remanded.
Nevin, Benjamin, McKay & Bartlett; Dennis A. Benjamin; Deborah A. Whipple, Boise, for appellant. Dennis A. Benjamin argued.
Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Lori A. Fleming, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Lori A. Fleming argued.
Faron Raymond Hawkins appeals from his judgment of conviction for robbery. Specifically, Hawkins argues that the district court's failure to sua sponte order a psychiatric evaluation and conduct a hearing to determine his competence to stand trial was an abuse of its discretion. For the reasons set forth below, we vacate the judgment of conviction and remand the case for further proceedings.
On December 15, 2005, Hawkins contacted retired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent George Calley and expressed concerns about the safety of his sons who were incarcerated in Colorado for bank robbery. Calley was familiar with Hawkins and told Hawkins that he could not protect the boys but that he could put Hawkins in contact with a current agent of the FBI in Boise. Hawkins told Calley that he wanted to work with the FBI and that he had been working with an assistant United States Attorney in Portland, Oregon. The next day, December 16, 2005, Hawkins robbed a Key Bank in Boise by presenting a note that demanded $15,000 and threatened to shoot people if his demands were not met or if anyone tried to follow him. Photos of the robber were made by a security camera in the bank. Following the robbery, a teller at the bank identified Hawkins in a photographic line-up, but police were unable to locate Hawkins. After hearing and seeing news reports on the bank robbery, Calley informed law enforcement of his conversation with Hawkins and that he suspected Hawkins was the perpetrator. A few days later, Hawkins left a message on Calley's answering machine. Essentially, Hawkins said that since he had not heard from Calley, he assumed that Calley could not help him. Calley tried to call and email Hawkins back but his attempts to reach Hawkins were unsuccessful.
Several months later, on June 6, 2006, Hawkins robbed a Washington Mutual Bank in Boise in the same manner as he had done in the Key Bank robbery, by presenting a note demanding $15,000 and threatening to shoot people. Again, a surveillance camera photographed the robber. As he was leaving with the money, Hawkins turned to the tellers and said, "By the way, my name is Faron Hawkins, and this is all because of George Calley." Hawkins called Calley a few days later and told him that he had used Calley's name in the bank robbery. Calley offered to help Hawkins find an attorney, but Hawkins did not respond to Calley's offer and terminated the conversation.
On August 10, 2006, law enforcement located Hawkins at a campground near The Dalles, Oregon, where he was staying with his wife and children in a camp trailer. When an officer attempted to make contact with Hawkins at the camp trailer, Hawkins pointed a loaded gun at the officer. The officer retreated and, after the campground was evacuated, law enforcement officers surrounded the trailer and ordered Hawkins to come out. An eight-hour standoff ensued during which Hawkins fired a gun in the direction of the officers, but eventually allowed his wife and children to leave the trailer. Hawkins was finally taken into custody after the officers shot tear gas into the trailer, forcing Hawkins to come out.
When interviewed by Oregon police, Hawkins stated that he had been a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative, had knowledge of transportation of weapons to Canada, had been involved in a South American operation with a National Security Agency (NSA) advisor and, at some point, had cut a transponder out of his earlobe that had been placed there by "someone."1 Hawkins also claimed to be a sophisticated criminal and freely admitted that he had committed the December 16, 2005, Boise bank robbery. A warrant to search Hawkins' van, pickup, and camp trailer was obtained and executed. During the search, several items of clothing that matched the description of items used during the Boise bank robberies, together with a checkbook containing one of the robber's demand notes, were seized. When Hawkins was interviewed by an FBI agent he stated that his wife and stepson liked to spend money, and that his wife encouraged his stepson to rob banks to get more money. He also stated that he and his wife helped his stepson rob banks by monitoring police scanners, and that he had suggested to his stepson that he should rob banks by using a demand note. However, in subsequent interviews with the FBI agent, Hawkins stated that he and his stepson were forced to commit the robberies. Hawkins claimed that the men who forced him to rob the banks threatened his wife and children. He also claimed that the men put a bomb vest on him and threatened to detonate it if he did not rob the Key Bank, and again put a bomb vest on him and forced him to wear an earpiece when he robbed the Washington Mutual Bank.
A grand jury indicted Hawkins on two counts of robbery. Hawkins moved to proceed pro se, and after an extensive Faretta2 inquiry, the district court granted Hawkins' request for self-representation but also appointed a public defender as standby counsel. Later, Hawkins again requested that counsel be reappointed and the court granted his request. After that appointment, Hawkins changed his mind and again moved to proceed pro se. The court conducted another Faretta inquiry, granted the motion, and appointed the public defender as standby counsel. On January 7, 2008, trial commenced and Hawkins testified on his own behalf. He admitted to the bank robberies, but claimed that they were done under duress. Hawkins stated that the people who forced him to commit the robberies did so by making threats to him, to his wife, and to his children. Ultimately, the jury found Hawkins guilty of the robberies.
Hawkins filed a motion for new trial and then moved for reappointment of counsel, and the court granted this request. A few minutes later, Hawkins' counsel advised the court that Hawkins was dissatisfied with counsel's performance because counsel did not believe there was any basis to move for a mistrial or for a new trial. Hawkins requested that he be allowed to continue to pro se argue his motions. The district court noted that Hawkins had filed a motion to "dismiss on the grounds of mental incapacity" claiming that the state's evidence showed that he was delusional. The district court denied the motion to dismiss but, based on Hawkins' claim of mental incapacity, ordered a psychological evaluation pursuant to Idaho Code § 19-2522 for purposes of sentencing. The court also declined Hawkins' motion to proceed pro se, noting that "if Mr. Hawkins is contending that he is delusional, I don't think his decision whether to hire or not keep an attorney, at this point, is appropriate."
At a subsequent hearing, the district court set forth for the record that it had never had cause to believe that Hawkins lacked the mental capacity to understand the proceedings or to assist in his own defense. The court noted that it had ordered the psychological evaluation for sentencing purposes "in an abundance of caution" based on the assertions made by Hawkins in his motion to dismiss that had been filed shortly after the jury had reached its verdicts. The court further noted that Hawkins had failed to participate in the psychological evaluation and, after questioning Hawkins, the court determined that Hawkins was asserting his Fifth Amendment rights not to participate in such an evaluation. At Hawkins' request, the court ordered the public defender to continue to represent Hawkins and set the case over for hearing on the multiple post-trial motions that Hawkins had filed pro se. At the subsequent motion hearing, Hawkins' counsel advised Hawkins and the court that, if asked to argue Hawkins' post-trial motions, his position would be that the motions had no merit. Based on counsel's representation, the court permitted Hawkins to argue his motions pro se, finding once again that Hawkins was competent to waive counsel and that he did so freely and voluntarily. Following argument, the district court denied Hawkins' motions.
The case proceeded to a sentencing hearing, at which Hawkins was represented by the public defender. The district court imposed concurrent unified sentences of life with thirty years fixed. Hawkins timely appealed.
Hawkins contends that the failure of the district court to sua sponte order a psychiatric evaluation and to conduct a hearing to determine his competence to stand trial was an abuse of its discretion. The decision whether reasonable grounds exist to order a psychological or psychiatric evaluation to determine a defendant's competence to stand trial is left to the trial court's discretion. State v. Longoria, 133 Idaho 819, 822, 992 P.2d 1219, 1222 (Ct. App. 1999); State v. Potter, 109 Idaho 967, 969, 712 P.2d 668, 670 (Ct. App. 1985), (citing State v. Roper, 140 Ariz. 459, 682 P.2d 464, 468 (App. 1984)) ("The trial court has broad discretion on determining if reasonable grounds exist [to question a defendant's competency], and unless there has been manifest abuse in this discretion, the trial court will be upheld."). Absent a clear abuse of discretion, the trial court's decision not to order a mental evaluation will be upheld on appeal. Longoria, 133 Idaho at 822, 992 P.2d at 1222. When a trial court's discretionary decision is reviewed on...
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