State v. Robbins, CR
| Decision Date | 11 December 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. CR,CR |
| Parties | STATE of Arkansas, Petitioner, v. Robert A. ROBBINS, Respondent. 98-1394. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Winston Bryant, Atty. Gen., by: Todd L. Newton, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Kelly K. Hill, Deputy Atty. Gen., for petitioner.
Val P. Price, for respondent.
On June 17, 1998, a Craighead County jury convicted Mr. Robbins of capital murder and sentenced him to death. On July 9, 1998, Mr. Val P. Price, standby counsel for Mr. Robbins, filed a notice of appeal. Both prior to the trial and during the trial, Mr. Robbins argued that he be sentenced to death and informed the court of his intention to waive all rights of appeal. On August 24, 1998, the State filed a Motion for Court to Inquire of Defendant to determine whether Mr. Robbins desired to waive his rights of appeal. The trial judge held a hearing on August 28, 1998, and by order entered on October 19, 1998, granted Mr. Robbins's request to waive his right to appeal the capital murder conviction and sentence. Mr. Robbins is currently scheduled to be executed on December 15, 1998. Pursuant to our decision in Franz v. State, 296 Ark. 181, 754 S.W.2d 839 (1988), the State now submits to this court a transcript of the lower court's proceedings along with its petition for writ of certiorari, and requests that we review those proceedings in accordance with the rule established in the Franz case. Mr. Val P. Price, Mr. Roger Ray and Ms. Kimberly Boling Bibb, as standby counsel for Mr. Robbins, have filed a response to the State's petition for writ of certiorari. We grant the State's petition for writ of certiorari.
In Franz v. State, supra, this court set forth the procedure 1 to be followed when a defendant elects to waive his rights to appeal a death sentence In future cases, when a lower court has made a determination that a capital defendant can make a knowing and intelligent waiver of appeal, and has done so, the State has the burden of bringing the record of the lower court proceeding on this issue to this Court for review. The record on this issue should, if possible, be lodged in this Court after the time for appeal has lapsed, but, in any event, it must be lodged at least seven days before the execution date. We will then review the proceeding to determine whether the defendant had the capacity to understand the choice between life and death and to knowingly and intelligently waive his rights to appeal his sentence of death. The standard of review, as in other types of criminal cases, is whether the trial judge's conclusion is clearly erroneous.
296 Ark. at 189-90, 754 S.W.2d at 844. We recently reiterated this procedure in Riggs v. Humphrey, 334 Ark. 231, 972 S.W.2d 946 (1998). The State has complied with these procedural requirements.
The trial judge in this case conducted the hearing mandated by our holding in Franz, supra, and found that Mr. Robbins does have the capacity to understand the choice between life and death, as well as the capacity to knowingly and intelligently waive any and all rights to appeal his conviction and sentence. Before making this finding, the trial judge conducted his own inquiry of Mr. Robbins and reviewed three joint exhibits: the March 18, 1998 psychological evaluation by Michael J. Simon, Ph.D., Supervising Forensic Psychologist, Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health Services; the June 19, 1998 order allowing waiver of counsel and invocation of constitutional right to proceed pro se; and a copy of the transcript of the competency hearing held on June 5, 1998. The trial court also had the benefit of representations by Mr. Robbins's standby counsel, Mr. Val P. Price, that he had advised Mr. Robbins fully of the consequences of a waiver of his rights of appeal.
With regard to Dr. Simon's psychological evaluation report dated March 18, 1998, it is based on a clinical interview and psychosocial history/assessment and on various psychological tests, including the M.M.P.I., the Competency to Stand Trial Assessment instrument, and the International Personality Disorder Examination. According to Dr. Simon's report and his testimony at the competency hearing on June 5, 1998, Mr. Robbins: (1) was aware of the nature of the charges and the proceedings taken against him, (2) did not lack the capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct and to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law at the time of the alleged offense, and (3) does not suffer from a mental disease or defect which would render him incompetent to elect execution. With regard to this last conclusion, Dr. Simon found that Mr. Robbins's intelligence was at least average, and that Mr. Robbins had no mental disorder at Axis I, although he did have a borderline personality disorder and a narcissistic personality disorder at Axis II. According to Dr. Simon, the decision to waive life and elect death is a decision that can be made by a sane person. Because Dr. Simon ruled out any kind of major mental illness in Mr. Robbins's case, he concluded that Mr. Robbins was competent to choose between life and death. At the June 5 competency hearing, Mr. Robbins testified unequivocally that he wanted his attorney, Mr. Price, to help him get the death penalty.
Based upon the evidence submitted at the competency hearing, the trial court found that Mr. Robbins was competent to stand trial and that he was able to assist his attorneys in the defense of his case. On June 15, 1998, Mr. Robbins invoked his constitutional right to proceed without counsel, pro se, and executed a written waiver of his constitutional right to counsel. The trial court entered an order that: (1) allowed Mr. Robbins to proceed without counsel, pro se; (2) relieved the court-appointed attorneys from representing Mr. Robbins; and (3) appointed Mr. Robbins's former attorneys as standby counsel, with specific instructions as to their duties in that role. This order enumerates an exhaustive list of findings made by the trial court before it granted Mr. Robbins's request to waive his right to counsel and to proceed pro se. According to these findings, Mr. Robbins was advised repeatedly by the trial court and his court-appointed attorneys not to represent himself in a capital murder case where the death penalty is a sentence option. However, Mr. Robbins advised the...
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Engram v. State
...subsequently affirmed the trial court's determination that Robbins was competent to make such a waiver. State v. Robbins, 335 Ark. 380, 985 S.W.2d 293 (1998) (per curiam) (Robbins I). Next, we further held that Robbins properly waived his right to seek Rule 37 postconviction relief. State v......
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State v. Rohwedder
...appointing standby counsel, trial courts would do well to enter a formal order appointing standby counsel. See Arkansas v. Robbins , 335 Ark. 380, 985 S.W.2d 293, 294 (1998) (noting that the trial court appointed standby counsel "with specific instructions as to their duties in that role");......
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Robbins v. State
...this court. This court, initially, held that Robbins had successfully waived his right to an appeal, see State v. Robbins, 335 Ark. 380, 985 S.W.2d 293 (1998) (per curiam) (Robbins I), and his right to seek Rule 37 post-conviction relief, see State v. Robbins, 336 Ark. 377, 985 S.W.2d 296 (......
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Robbins v. State
...convicted and sentenced to death; he waived his right to appeal, and we held his waiver was proper. See State v. Robbins, 335 Ark. 380, 985 S.W.2d 293 (1998) (per curiam) (Robbins I). In State v. Robbins, 336 Ark. 377, 985 S.W.2d 296 (1999) (per curiam) (Robbins II), we clarified that Robbi......