U.S. v. Klat

• Decision Date: 22 September 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-3075,97-3075
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Susan Viola KLAT, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 1258

156 F.3d 1258

332 U.S.App.D.C. 230

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Susan Viola KLAT, Appellant.

No. 97-3075.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Sept. 2, 1998.

Decided Sept. 22, 1998.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 96cr00385-01).

Mary Manning Petras, appointed by the Court, argued the cause and filed the briefs for appellant.

David B. Goodhand, Assistant United States Attorney, argued the cause for appellee, with whom Wilma A. Lewis, United States Attorney, John R. Fisher and Elizabeth Trosman, Assistant United States Attorneys, were on the brief. Mary-Patrice Brown, Assistant United States Attorney, entered an appearance.

Before: WALD, WILLIAMS and TATEL, Circuit Judges.

WALD, Circuit Judge:

A jury convicted Susan Viola Klat of threatening to assault the Clerk of the United States Supreme Court, William Suter, and the Chief Justice of the United States, William Rehnquist. On appeal, appellant challenges her conviction and sentence based on a number of alleged errors made by the district court, including (1) allowing her to appear pro se at a hearing to determine her competency to stand trial; (2) failing adequately to warn her of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation; (3) failing to dismiss the indictment as duplicitous; (4) failing to give the jury a special unanimity instruction; and (5) failing to depart downward in sentencing on the basis of diminished capacity.

We reject all of the defendant's claims except for the district court's failure to provide appellant with counsel at a hearing to determine her competency to stand trial. We hold that the defendant had a Sixth Amendment right to counsel at this hearing and that the district court therefore erred in allowing appellant to appear pro se. As a remedy for this error, we remand the case to the district court for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the competency hearing could have come out differently if, as the Sixth Amendment requires, the defendant had been represented at the hearing. If it is determined that counsel could have altered the outcome of the competency hearing, appellant's conviction must be vacated and appellant afforded a new trial.

I. BACKGROUND

On October 25, 1996, appellant was indicted on two counts of threatening to assault Mr. Suter (Count 1) and Chief Justice Rehnquist (Count 2) with the intent to retaliate against them on account of their performance of official duties. The government's evidence against appellant included letters and voice mail sent to a California government official as well as statements made to co-workers, friends, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and employees at the United States Supreme Court, spanning a six-month period from February 29, 1996 through August 25, 1996. ¹ The government claimed that these various statements, letters and messages constituted threats to assault Mr. Suter and Chief Justice Rehnquist in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 115 and 1114.

Prior to her indictment, on August 27, 1996, appellant was brought before a magistrate for a probable cause hearing. Appellant was represented at this hearing by appointed counsel. The magistrate found probable cause and remanded appellant back to jail for a forensic screening to ascertain whether appellant was competent to stand trial. Dr. Bruce Cambosos performed this screening and concluded that appellant was competent to stand trial. A bail hearing was held on September 3, 1996, where the magistrate granted appellant's request through counsel that she be released on her own recognizance.

On September 24, 1996, appellant filed a motion requesting that her attorney be removed and that she be named counsel of record. Attached to this motion was a signed "Waiver of Right to Assigned Counsel." In these two documents, appellant stated, inter alia, that she was "aware of the implications and responsibilities involved that accompany being represented in propria persona and waive[d] the right to have supportive counsel present or involved at this time"; that she "hereby relinquishe[d] the right to retain the federal public defender as counsel and w[ould] proceed with all procedures and proceedings connected with this case in propria persona hereinafter"; and that she was "aware that both the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Fed. Rules of Crim. Proc., rule [sic] 44(a) provide for the right to assignment of counsel and elect[ed] to waive this right." J.A., Ex. 3. Appellant requested in her motion an order naming her counsel of record "officially" as of September 17, 1996, at 4:30 p.m. Id.

Appellant was arraigned on November 1, 1996. At her arraignment hearing, she followed up on her motion to remove appointed counsel. Appointed counsel also moved to withdraw because appellant had filed a civil suit against him. The district court granted counsel's motion to withdraw, and, based on appellant's behavior at the hearing--which the court described as "bizarre"--ruled that there was "reasonable cause" to believe that appellant was suffering from a mental disease or defect that rendered her unable to understand the nature of the proceedings against her. The district court then ordered appellant into custody to be examined pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241(b). Although the district court had granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw, the court did not appoint new counsel for appellant.

Appellant spent nearly a month at Carswell Federal Medical Center in Forth Worth, Texas. There, she was examined by Dr. James Shadduck, a forensic psychologist. Appellant allowed herself to be interviewed by Dr. Shadduck but refused to participate in formal psychological testing. Based on his observations of appellant, Dr. Shadduck concluded that she was competent to stand trial. See Appellant Br., Attach. C. Dr. Shadduck did note "strong evidence of a narcissistic personality disorder, and the possibility of a diagnosis of a bipolar disorder," id. at 6, and that appellant "occasionally evidenced excessive suspiciousness that verged on paranoia." Id. at 5. However, Dr. Shadduck also found that appellant displayed "at least average intellectual abilities, and no notable cognitive impairments." Id. at 7. Ultimately, Dr. Shadduck concluded that appellant was "not presently suffering from a mental disease or defect which would render her unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her own defense." Id. Dr. Shadduck's forensic report was submitted to the district court on December 16, 1996.

On January 16, 1997, the district court held a hearing to determine whether appellant was competent to stand trial and whether she could represent herself at trial. Appellant appeared at this hearing pro se. Based on Dr. Shadduck's report and its own observation of appellant's behavior at this hearing, the district court found that appellant was in fact competent and, further, that she could represent herself at trial. Appellant agreed at this hearing to the appointment of standby counsel; standby counsel was appointed on January 28, 1997, and appeared with appellant at all subsequent proceedings.

The jury trial commenced on February 24, 1997. Appellant gave the opening statement and cross-examined the first two government witnesses. However, after cross-examining the second witness, appellant informed the court that she could not continue to "confront" her friends because it was "too emotional" for her. Trial Tr. at 213. Accordingly, standby counsel took over the rest of the trial and sentencing. On February 26, 1997, the jury found appellant guilty on both counts of the indictment. On May 27, 1997, appellant was sentenced to a term of 57 months imprisonment for each count, to run concurrently, to a year of supervised release for each count, to run concurrently, and to a $100 special assessment for each count.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Right to Counsel at the Competency Hearing

On November 1, 1996, appellant was arraigned before the district court. Appellant was represented by appointed counsel at her arraignment hearing; however, by the close of the hearing, the district court had both (1) granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw from the case and (2) ordered appellant into custody, finding "reasonable cause" to believe that appellant was incompetent to stand trial. The district court did not subsequently appoint new counsel. Accordingly, appellant was without counsel from the close of her November 1, 1996 arraignment hearing until the district court found her competent to stand trial and to waive her right to counsel at the January 16, 1997 hearing.

A defendant has a right to counsel at every critical stage of a criminal prosecution. See Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. 454, 469-71, 101 S.Ct. 1866, 68 L.Ed.2d 359 (1981); Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 688-89, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972). A competency hearing is one such critical stage. See, e.g., United States v. Byers, 740 F.2d 1104, 1119 (D.C.Cir.1984) (in banc) (noting that stage is critical where defendant is "confronted 'by the legal system,' in that he ha[s] a lawrelated choice before him, and could ... profit from the expert advice of counsel ...." (quoting Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. at 471, 101 S.Ct. 1866)). ² Of course, a defendant may waive her right to counsel and, indeed, the Supreme Court in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), has held that a defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to represent herself. However, the Supreme Court noted that while a defendant has a right to represent herself, this defendant must "knowingly and intelligently" forgo the benefits traditionally associated with the right to counsel in order to be allowed to proceed pro se. Id. at 835, 95 S.Ct. 2525.

In the instant case, appellant had clearly indicated her desire to waive her right to ...