Robert Rodriguez v. State ( 2008 )

COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH
NO. 2-07-332-CR
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE
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FROM CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT NO. 1 OF TARRANT COUNTY
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MEMORANDUM OPINION 1
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Introduction
Appellant Robert Rodriguez appeals his conviction for unlawfully
possessing a firearm while being a convicted felon. In his only issue, appellant
contends that the trial court erred by refusing his request for self-
representation. We affirm.
1
… See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.
Background Facts
In 2005, appellant was convicted of possessing cocaine (a felony) and
was sentenced to 140 days’ confinement. In July 2006, while on surveillance
in a high-crime area, Fort Worth Police Department Officer Ronald McMullen
saw appellant lay a plastic bag on a park table while he was smoking and rolling
cigarettes with two other individuals. Upon approaching appellant, Officer
McMullen noticed that the bag contained a green leafy substance that he
believed to be marijuana. 2 While Officer McMullen was placing appellant under
arrest for possessing the marijuana, he found a .38 caliber pistol in appellant’s
back left pants pocket.3
In January 2007, a grand jury indicted appellant for possessing the gun
within five years of his release from confinement for his possession of cocaine
conviction. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 46.04(a)(1) (Vernon Supp. 2008).
Appellant retained counsel in February 2007. After the parties filed various
2
… Appellant admitted at trial that he went to the park to smoke
marijuana.
3
… The two individuals who were smoking marijuana with appellant at the
time Officer McMullen approached testified that the gun was on the table rather
than in appellant’s pocket. Appellant testified that he knew that a gun was on
the table, but that he never owned or possessed the gun. However, appellant
has not challenged the sufficiency of the evidence presented at trial that he
possessed the gun.
2
pretrial documents, appellant’s case was tried in August 2007. Following voir
dire and challenges and strikes to potential jurors made by both parties, the trial
court seated twelve jurors and required them to swear or affirm that they would
render a true verdict according to the law and evidence presented to them. The
next morning, when the trial judge asked appellant’s counsel, Hiram Bodon,
whether he was ready to proceed, the following colloquy occurred:
MR. BODON: Your Honor, my client has just informed me that
he wishes to represent himself.
THE COURT: Too late.
...
MR. BODON: Now, Your Honor, before they bring the jury in,
I’d like to object to the Court not allowing Mr.
Rodriguez to represent himself. I understand
that it is late in the game, but, you know, he has
made his claim and it is his right to—it’s his right
and he says he doesn’t have any confidence in
me. He would have done it earlier but he
couldn’t figure out what to do. As you recall
right before the trial—
THE COURT: I thought you wanted to make an objection. I
overruled your objection.
MR. BODON: Thank you, Your Honor.
Following that exchange, the judge read the indictment and appellant pled
not guilty. After testimony concluded and counsel presented closing
arguments, the jury deliberated and convicted appellant of unlawfully
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possessing the gun. At the conclusion of the punishment phase of appellant’s
trial, the jury assessed eight years’ confinement. Appellant timely perfected
this appeal.
The Trial Court’s Decision on Appellant’s Request for Self-Representation
In his only issue, appellant contends that the trial court erred by not
allowing him to represent himself. The Sixth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution implicitly creates a right of self-representation in criminal cases.
See U.S. Const. amend. VI; Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 821–36, 95
S. Ct. 2525, 2534–41 (1975); Blankenship v. State, 673 S.W.2d 578, 583–84
(Tex. Crim. App. 1984). This right is concomitant with the right to counsel.
Hatten v. State, 71 S.W.3d 332, 333 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002). A proper
exercise of the right requires the trial court to ensure that the defendant’s
decision to represent himself is being made competently, knowingly,
intelligently, and voluntarily. Moore v. State, 999 S.W.2d 385, 396 (Tex. Crim.
App. 1999), cert. denied, 530 U.S. 1216 (2000).
Denial of the right of self-representation is not subject to a harm analysis;
rather, “its deprivation cannot be harmless.” McKaskle v. Wiggins, 465 U.S.
168, 177, 104 S. Ct. 944, 950 n.8 (1984). Therefore, the improper denial of
the right mandates automatic reversal of the defendant’s conviction. See
Nelson v. State, 810 S.W.2d 753, 755 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1991, pet. ref’d).
4
However, an assertion of the right to self-representation must be made
in a timely manner. See McDuff v. State, 939 S.W.2d 607, 619 (Tex. Crim.
App. 1997). In this respect, the assertion is only timely if it is made before the
jury is impaneled. See id. (holding that because “appellant’s request [for self-
representation] was long after the jury had been impaneled, such request was
not timely”); Blankenship, 673 S.W.2d at 585; Dotson v. State, 785 S.W.2d
848, 853 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1990, pet. ref’d) (deciding that the
“appellant’s claimed assertion of the right to defend pro se was untimely since
it was made after the jury was impaneled”). 4 A jury has been impaneled when
those who have been chosen to serve have been selected and sworn. See Hill
v. State, 827 S.W.2d 860, 864 (Tex. Crim. App.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 905
(1992); Price v. State, 782 S.W.2d 266, 269 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 1989,
pet. ref’d).
In this case, after voir dire on August 27, 2007, the trial judge called the
names of twelve jurors and instructed them to sit in the jury box. After
4
… Federal courts have also consistently noted that a request for self-
representation made after a jury is impaneled is untimely. See United States v.
Young, 287 F.3d 1352, 1354 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1031 (2002);
United States v. Vandergriff, No. 97-51051, 1999 WL 33988011, at *3 (5th
Cir. Feb. 17, 1999), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1057 (2000).
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releasing the remaining members of the jury panel, the trial judge explained the
oath that was required to the twelve jurors. The judge inquired whether the
twelve jurors solemnly swore or affirmed that they would render a true verdict
according to the law and the evidence, and the jurors responded that they
would do so. The judge then told the jury that “by that oath you just became
officers of this court.” Finally, the judge gave the jury further instructions and
released them for the day. Appellant’s request for self-representation did not
occur until the next morning.
Because appellant’s request to represent himself clearly followed the
selection and swearing of the jury, the request was not timely. 5 McDuff, 939
S.W.2d at 619. Therefore, the trial court did not err in denying the request by
reasoning that it was made “too late.” Id.; see also Ex parte Winton, 837
S.W.2d 134, 135 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) (stating that the “right [of self-
representation] must be asserted in a timely manner, namely, before the jury is
impaneled”). Thus, we overrule appellant’s only issue.
5
… Appellant acknowledges in his brief that the right of self-
representation must generally be asserted before the jury is impaneled, and he
acknowledges that his request was made after jury selection.
6
Conclusion
Having overruled appellant’s sole issue, we affirm the trial court’s
judgment.
TERRIE LIVINGSTON
JUSTICE
PANEL: LIVINGSTON, HOLMAN, and GARDNER, JJ.
DO NOT PUBLISH
Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)
DELIVERED: November 26, 2008
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