Pet. Appendix A
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Neutral As of: January 15, 2020 4:55 PM Z State v. Clark Supreme Court of Louisiana June 28, 2019, Decided No. 2012-KA-0508 Reporter 2019 La. LEXIS 1618 *; 2012-0508 (La. 06/28/19);; 2019 WL 2750865 STATE OF LOUISIANA VERSUS JEFFREY CLARK Case Summary Overview Notice: THIS DECISION IS NOT FINAL UNTIL ISSUE: Whether the Louisiana Supreme Court's rule— EXPIRATION OF THE FOURTEEN DAY REHEARING that an indigent defendant must accept his trial PERIOD. counsel's decision to concede his guilt of second degree murder over his express objections or represent himself—vitiated the voluntariness of defendant's waiver of counsel. HOLDINGS: [1]-There was no violation of defendant's secured autonomy under U.S. Const. Subsequent History: Rehearing denied by State v. amend. VI because the record showed that defendant Clark, 278 So. 3d 364, 2019 La. LEXIS 1932 (La., Sept. and counsel were aligned in their strategy to deny 6, 2019) involvement in a murder while admitting participation in an attempt to escape and the record did not reflect an intractable disagreement about the fundamental objective of the representation. Defendant offered Prior History: [*1] ON REMAND FROM THE UNITED several reasons for his decision to assume the mantle of STATES SUPREME COURT. lead counsel, and was thoroughly and correctly advised by the district court, before the court permitted Clark v. Louisiana, 138 S. Ct. 2671, 201 L. Ed. 2d 1066, defendant a hybrid representation. 2018 U.S. LEXIS 3953 (U.S., June 25, 2018) Disposition: AFFIRMED. Outcome Judgment affirmed. Core Terms guilt, concede, sentence, district court, first trial, self- LexisNexis® Headnotes representation, reasons, murder, first degree murder, death sentence, Sixth Amendment, appointed, innocence, hybrid, admit Constitutional Law > ... > Fundamental Pet. App. 1a Page 2 of 7 2019 La. LEXIS 1618, *1 Rights > Criminal Process > Assistance of Counsel The choice is not all or nothing: To gain assistance, a defendant need not surrender control entirely to Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to counsel. For U.S. Const. amend. VI, in granting to an Self-Representation accused personally the right to make his defense, speaks of the assistance of counsel, and an assistant, HN1[ ] Criminal Process, Assistance of Counsel however expert, is still an assistant. Trial management is a lawyer's province: Counsel provides his or her The violation of a defendant's secured autonomy under assistance by making decisions such as what U.S. Const. amend. VI is a structural error that is not arguments to pursue, what evidentiary objections to subject to harmless-error review. raise, and what agreements to conclude regarding the admission of evidence. Some decisions, however, are reserved for the client—notably, whether to plead guilty, Constitutional Law > ... > Fundamental waive the right to a jury trial, testify in one's own behalf, Rights > Criminal Process > Assistance of Counsel and forgo an appeal. Autonomy to decide that the objective of the defense is to assert innocence belongs Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to in this latter category. Just as a defendant may Counsel steadfastly refuse to plead guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence against her, or reject the Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to assistance of legal counsel despite the defendant's own Self-Representation inexperience and lack of professional qualifications, so may she insist on maintaining her innocence at the guilt Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Waiver phase of a capital trial. These are not strategic choices about how best to achieve a client's objectives; they are HN2[ ] Criminal Process, Assistance of Counsel choices about what the client's objectives in fact are. U.S. Const. amend. VI guarantees to each criminal defendant the assistance of counsel for his defence. At Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to common law, self-representation was the norm. As the Counsel laws of England and the American Colonies developed, providing for a right to counsel in criminal cases, self- Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Effective representation remained common and the right to Assistance of Counsel > Trials proceed without counsel was recognized. Even now, when most defendants choose to be represented by Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to counsel, an accused may insist upon representing Self-Representation herself—however counterproductive that course may be. The right to defend is personal, and a defendant's HN4[ ] Counsel, Right to Counsel choice in exercising that right must be honored out of that respect for the individual which is the lifeblood of A capital defendant might not share in his counsel's the law. objective of avoiding the death penalty; instead, an accused may prefer not to admit that he killed family members, or may hold life in prison not worth living and Constitutional Law > ... > Fundamental prefer to risk death for any hope, however small, of Rights > Criminal Process > Assistance of Counsel exoneration. Thus, when a client expressly asserts that the objective of his defense is to maintain innocence of Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to the charged criminal acts, his lawyer must abide by that Counsel objective and may not override it by conceding guilt. Still, trial management is the lawyer's province: Counsel Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to provides his or her assistance by making such decisions Self-Representation as what arguments to pursue, what evidentiary objections to raise, and what agreements to conclude Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Waiver regarding the admission of evidence. HN3[ ] Criminal Process, Assistance of Counsel Pet. App. 2a Page 3 of 7 2019 La. LEXIS 1618, *1 Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Effective Appellant's first trial ended in a mistrial after opening Assistance of Counsel statements in the guilt phase because the prosecution informed the jury that appellant was already serving a Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to life sentence.2 Following his second trial, appellant was Self-Representation found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death. Appellant's conviction and sentence were Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to affirmed on appeal.3 Counsel The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to HN5[ ] Counsel, Effective Assistance of Counsel remand for further consideration in light of McCoy v. Louisiana, 584 U.S. , 138 S.Ct. 1500, 1507 [Pg 2], 200 Presented with express statements of a client's will to L.Ed.2d 821 (2018).4 With the benefit of additional maintain innocence, counsel may not steer the ship the briefing and oral argument, and after further other way. consideration, we again affirm appellant's conviction and sentence for the reasons that follow, in addition to the reasons stated previously in State v. Clark, 12-0508 (La. Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Effective 12/19/16), 220 So.3d 583. Assistance of Counsel In McCoy v. Louisiana, 584 U.S. , 138 S.Ct. 1500, 200 Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to L.Ed.2d 821 (2018), the United States Supreme Court Counsel determined that HN1[ ] the violation of the defendant's Sixth Amendment-secured autonomy was a structural Criminal Law & Procedure > Counsel > Right to error that is not [*2] subject to harmless-error review. Self-Representation Thus, the Supreme Court found that this court had erred in affirming McCoy's three first degree murder HN6[ ] Counsel, Effective Assistance of Counsel convictions and death sentences because the trial court did not permit McCoy to replace his retained counsel on Counsel may not admit her client's guilt of a charged the eve of trial, and McCoy's trial counsel conceded that crime over the client's intransigent objection to that McCoy murdered his victims despite the fact that McCoy admission. "vociferously insisted that he did not engage in the charged acts and adamantly objected to any admission of guilt." Id., 138 S.Ct. at 1505. In determining that a structural error had occurred in McCoy, the Supreme Court explained: Opinion HN2[ ] The Sixth Amendment guarantees to each criminal defendant "the Assistance of Counsel for his defence." At common law, self-representation PER CURIAM* was the norm. See Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 823, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975) After his second trial, appellant Jeffrey Clark was found (citing 1 F. Pollock & F. Maitland, The History of guilty of the first degree murder of Captain David English Law 211 (2d ed. 1909)). As the laws of Knapps, which was committed on December 28, 1999, England and the American Colonies developed, during a failed attempt to escape from the Louisiana providing for a right to counsel in criminal cases, State Penitentiary at Angola, where appellant was self-representation remained common and the right 1 serving a life sentence for first degree murder. to proceed without counsel was recognized. * Retired Judge Hillary Crain appointed as Justice ad hoc, 2 State v. Clark, 10-1676 (La. 7/17/10), 39 So.3d 594. sitting for Crichton, J., recused. 3 State v. Clark, 12-0508 (La. 12/19/16), 220 So.3d 583. 1 State v. Clark, 492 So.2d 862 (La. 1986) (affirming appellant's conviction for the first degree murder of Andrew 4 Clark v. Louisiana, 138 S. Ct. 2671, 201 L.Ed.2d 1066 Cheswick but vacating the sentence of death). (2018) (Mem). Pet. App. 3a Page 4 of 7 2019 La. LEXIS 1618, *2 Faretta, 422 U.S., at 824-828, 95 S.Ct. 2525. Even inexperience and lack of professional qualifications, now, when most defendants choose to be so may she insist on maintaining her innocence at represented by counsel, see, e.g., Goldschmidt & the guilt phase of a capital trial. These are not Stemen, Patterns and Trends in Federal Pro Se strategic choices about how best to achieve a Defense, 1996-2011: An Exploratory Study, 8 Fed.