State v. Tejeda
| Decision Date | 07 April 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-0782.,03-0782. |
| Citation | 677 N.W.2d 744 |
| Parties | STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Edward Ochoa TEJEDA, Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Theresa R. Wilson, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kevin Cmelik, Assistant Attorney General, John P. Sarcone, County Attorney, and Michael T. Hunter, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
A jury convicted Edward Tejeda of willful injury for clobbering a young man in the head with a baseball bat. Prior to trial, Tejeda sent the court two letters alleging a breakdown in communication with his attorney. Tejeda claims the district court should have inquired into this potential problem. We agree, and hold trial courts have a duty to inquire into alleged breakdowns in communication between defendants and their attorneys. Because the record before us is inadequate for resolution on direct appeal, however, we preserve for postconviction proceedings the issue of whether this breakdown amounted to a denial of Tejeda's Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
Tejeda also challenges the district court's refusal to admit hearsay evidence of another man's confession to the crime, and claims his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to a jury instruction which lacked evidentiary support in the record. We reject these two claims, and affirm.
Late one night in June 2002, a large number of young people assembled on West Riverside Drive in Des Moines. West Riverside Drive is, by all accounts, a popular place for youth to cruise, socialize, play music, and drink alcohol. Among the congregation gathered at West Riverside Drive on this summer night were Edward Tejeda and his ex-roommate, Lisa Woods. Although Tejeda and Woods arrived separately, trouble soon ensued. Before sunrise, another young man, Matthew Heman, would nearly lose his life.
According to the prosecution's witnesses, Tejeda, wielding a baseball bat and accompanied by several friends, confronted Woods about some of his personal property, which she had taken from their former residence. Tejeda argued with Woods about the property. One of Tejeda's female comrades then whacked Woods over the head with a forty-ounce beer bottle. As a crowd gathered, a stunned Woods looked up and saw Tejeda and another male standing before her, each holding baseball bats. Woods cried out for help.
Woods' friend, Matthew Heman, came to her aid. As Heman arrived, Tejeda raised his bat. Heman stepped in front of Woods, and Tejeda swung the bat, hitting Heman on the right side of the head. Heman fell to the ground, his skull fractured and bleeding. Tejeda and his companions fled.
Doctors were able to save Heman's life. He spent ten days in the hospital recovering from his injuries, which required several metal plates and stitches. Despite continued therapy, Heman has suffered memory problems, personality changes, and difficulty processing information.
Tejeda was charged with willful injury, a felony. See Iowa Code § 708.4 (2001). The county attorney further alleged Tejeda committed the crime while in possession of a dangerous weapon, an aggravating factor in sentencing proceedings. See id. § 902.7.
In December 2002, Tejeda was tried. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, and the judge declared a mistrial. A second trial was scheduled for February 17, 2003.
On February 3, Tejeda wrote a letter to Judge Joel Novak. Tejeda told the judge his attorney wanted him to plead guilty and, when he refused, his attorney got upset and left the room. Tejeda professed his innocence, and then wrote:
But with my lawyer beside me I can't win. I am asking you to please remove my counsal [sic].... I found out new evidence in my case and I'm scarred [sic] to even bring it to my lawyer's attention. I think he'll tell the prosacutor [sic] before we even get a chance to use it in trial.
On February 5, Judge Eliza Ovrom ordered counsel for both parties to review Tejeda's request and file A copy of this order was mailed to Tejeda.
In a letter filed on February 13, Tejeda again wrote Judge Novak. Tejeda repeated his desire for new counsel. Tejeda said his attorney had again requested he plead guilty. Believing his attorney was "not going to put in his best intrest [sic]," Tejeda asked the court to appoint substitute counsel. Tejeda believed Jesse Macro, his lawyer in another case, would "represent me to his fullest."
The record contains no other direct references to Tejeda's requests. The parties did not file responses to Judge Ovrom's order, and there is no record of a hearing. Nor is there an order denying Tejeda's request.
At most, there is circumstantial evidence in the court file the court saw Tejeda's requests. Tejeda's second letter was stapled to several other documents in the file. The items in this collection of documents were filed within minutes of each other on February 13. These other documents included: (1) a waiver of speedy trial, signed by the defendant and his attorney; (2) a motion to continue, signed by Tejeda's attorney; and (3) an order resetting trial to March 10. In the motion to continue, Tejeda's attorney stated that on February 7 he had learned of a new potential material witness, Richard Adair. Tejeda's attorney requested additional time to interview Adair.
Tejeda's second jury trial was held on March 10. At the outset of trial and outside the presence of the jury, Tejeda's attorney, in the presence of the defendant, told the court Tejeda had rejected an offer of a plea from the State. He then stated The defendant remained silent during these statements.
During trial, Tejeda's new witness, Adair, testified he saw someone other than Tejeda attack Heman. Adair did not know Tejeda at the time of the crime, but had only come to know him months later while both were incarcerated. According to Adair, Tejeda told Adair his story (apparently in late January or early February) and upon hearing it Adair remembered he had been at the crime scene, and knew Tejeda didn't strike Heman. Tejeda asked Adair if he would testify on his behalf, and Adair agreed. Adair told his story to the defense attorney on February 12. Several other witnesses contradicted Adair's testimony, however, and Tejeda was found guilty.
On appeal, Tejeda raises three issues for our review: (1) Did the district court deny his right to counsel in failing to adequately inquire into his allegations of a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship?; (2) Did the trial court abuse its discretion in excluding a report of another man's confession to the crime as unreliable hearsay?; and (3) Was Tejeda denied effective assistance of counsel when his attorney failed to object to a jury instruction for which there was no evidence in the record?
Tejeda argues the district court abridged his right to counsel when it failed to inquire after he alleged a breakdown in communication with his attorney and requested substitute counsel. Tejeda points to two letters, in which he (1) stated his attorney was trying to persuade him to plead guilty; (2) told the court he was withholding evidence from his attorney; and (3) requested substitute counsel. In the absence of evidence of an adequate judicial response to his letters—such as holding a hearing in which the court would inquire into the nature of his complaints—Tejeda requests we remand his case to the district court for an inquiry into whether there was an unconstitutional breakdown in communication with his attorney. If the district court determines there was such a breakdown, Tejeda asks for a new trial.
The State contends Tejeda failed to preserve error, and, in the alternative, maintains a hearing was not warranted because Tejeda's letters only show his unhappiness with his attorney's recommendation that he accept a plea bargain.
The parties disagree over the applicable standard of review. The State posits we should review for an abuse of discretion, because it is the standard applied to a district court's denial of a request for substitute counsel. See State v. Martin, 608 N.W.2d 445, 449 (Iowa 2000)
. In this case, however, the court never ruled on Tejeda's request; Tejeda's claim thus poses a constitutional question: Does a court have a duty to inquire sua sponte once a defendant alleges a breakdown in communication? Our standard of review, therefore, is de novo. See State v. Thompson, 597 N.W.2d 779, 782 (Iowa 1999) ().
Before turning to the merits, we briefly consider and reject the State's error preservation claim. The State alleges Tejeda failed to preserve error because he never received a ruling from the court.
We disagree. Tejeda wrote two letters to the court in support of his request and the question in this case is whether the court had a duty to inquire sua sponte once Tejeda complained of his attorney's actions. Although error was not preserved in the traditional sense, Tejeda's two letters sufficiently alerted the trial court of a problem for us to consider the issue. It would be unrealistic to expect much more from a defendant not trained in the law.
U.S. Const. amend. VI. This provision, incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment, is binding upon the states. U.S. Const. amend. XIV; see Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 807, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2527, 45 L.Ed.2d 562, 566 (1975)
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