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Accused of converting a client's money to his own use while employed as a paralegal, petitioner Martinez was charged by California with grand theft and the fraudulent appropriation of another's property. He chose to represent himself at trial before a jury, which acquitted him of theft but convicted him of embezzlement. He then filed a timely notice of appeal, a motion to represent himself, and a waiver of counsel. The California Court of Appeal denied his motion to represent himself based on its prior holding that there is no constitutional right to self-representation on direct appeal under
Faretta
v.
California,
Held:
Neither
Faretta
's holding nor its reasoning requires a State to recognize a constitutional right to self-representation on direct appeal from a criminal conviction. Although some of
Faretta
's reasoning is applicable to appellate proceedings as well as to trials, there are significant distinctions. First, the historical evidence
Faretta
relied on as identifying a right of self-representation,
Affirmed.
Stevens, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., joined. Kennedy, J., and Breyer, J., filed concurring opinions. Scalia, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment.
SALVADOR MARTINEZ, PETITIONER
v.
COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH
APPELLATE DISTRICT
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of california
[January 12, 2000]
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of our Constitution guarantee that a person brought to trial in any state or federal court must be afforded the right to the assistance of counsel before he can be validly convicted and punished by imprisonment.
1
In
Faretta
v.
California,
I
Martinez describes himself as a self-taught paralegal with 25 years' experience at 12 different law firms. See App. 13. While employed as an office assistant at a firm in Santa Ana, California, Martinez was accused of converting $6,000 of a client's money to his own use. He was charged in a two-count information with grand theft and the fraudulent appropriation of the property of another. He chose to represent himself at trial before a jury, because he claimed " `there wasn't an attorney on earth who'd believe me once he saw my past [criminal record].' " Id., at 15. The jury acquitted him on Count 1, grand theft, but convicted him on Count 2, embezzlement. The jury also found that he had three prior convictions; accordingly, under California's "three strikes" law, the court imposed a mandatory sentence of 25-years-to-life in prison. See Cal. Penal Code §§667(d) and (e)(2) (West 1999). Martinez filed a timely notice of appeal as well as a motion to represent himself and a waiver of counsel. The California Court of Appeal denied his motion, and the California Supreme Court denied his application for a writ of mandate. While the California Supreme Court did not issue an opinion in this case, the Court of Appeal previously had explained:
"There is no constitutional right to self-representation on the initial appeal as of right. The right to counsel on appeal stems from the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, not from the Sixth Amendment, which is the foundation on which Faretta is based. The denial of self-representation at this level does not violate due process or equal protection guarantees." People v. Scott , 64 Cal. App. 4th 550, 554, 75 Cal. Rptr. 2d 315, 318 (1998).
We granted certiorari because Martinez has raised a question on which both state and federal courts have expressed conflicting views.
2
II
The
Faretta
majority based its conclusion on three inter-related arguments. First, it examined historical evidence identifying a right of self-representation that had been protected by federal and state law since the beginning of our Nation,
The historical evidence relied upon by
Faretta
as identifying a right of self-representation is not always useful because it pertained to times when lawyers were scarce, often mistrusted, and not readily available to the average person accused of crime.
3
For one who could not obtain a lawyer, self-representation was the only feasible alternative to asserting no defense at all. Thus, a government's recognition of an indigent defendant's right to represent himself was comparable to bestowing upon the homeless beggar a "right" to take shelter in the sewers of Paris. Not surprisingly, early precedent demonstrates that this "right" was not always used to the defendant's advantage as a shield, but rather was often employed by the prosecution as a sword. The principal case cited in
Faretta
is illustrative. In
Adams
v.
United States ex rel. McCann,
It has since been recognized, however, that an indigent defendant in a criminal trial has a constitutional right to the assistance of appointed counsel, see
Gideon
v.
Wainwright,
The scant historical evidence pertaining to the issue of self-representation on appeal is even less helpful. The Court in
Faretta
relied upon the description of the right in §35 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 92, which states that "the parties may plead and manage their own causes personally or by the assistance of such counsel ... ."
We are not aware of any historical consensus establishing a right of self-representation on appeal. We might, nonetheless, paraphrase Faretta and assert: No State or Colony ever forced counsel upon a convicted appellant, and no spokesman ever suggested that such a practice would be tolerable or advisable. 422 U. S., at 832. Such negative historical evidence was meaningful to the Faretta Court, because the fact that the "[dog] had not barked" 6 arguably demonstrated that early lawmakers intended to preserve the "long-respected right of self-representation" at trial. Ibid. Historical silence, however, has no probative force in the appellate context because there simply was no long-respected right of self-representation on appeal. In fact, the right of appeal itself is of relatively recent origin.
Appeals as of right in federal courts were nonexistent for the first century of our Nation, and appellate review of any sort was "rarely allowed."
Abney
v.
United States,
The
Faretta
majority's reliance on the structure of the Sixth Amendment is also not relevant. The Sixth Amendment identifies the basic rights that the accused shall enjoy in "all criminal prosecutions." They are presented strictly as rights that are available in preparation for trial and at the trial itself. The Sixth Amendment does not include any right to appeal. As we have recognized, "[t]he right of appeal, as we presently know it in criminal cases, is purely a creature of statute."
Abney,
The
Faretta
majority's nontextual interpretation of the Sixth Amendment also included an examination of British criminal jurisprudence and a reference to the opprobrious trial practices before the Star Chamber.
Finally, the
Faretta
majority found that the right to self-representation at trial was grounded in part in a respect for individual autonomy. See
In light of our conclusion that the Sixth Amendment does not apply to appellate proceedings, any individual right to self-representation on appeal based on autonomy principles must be grounded in the Due Process Clause. Under the practices that prevail in the Nation today, however, we are entirely unpersuaded that the risk of either disloyalty or suspicion of disloyalty is a sufficient concern to conclude that a constitutional right of self-representation is a necessary component of a fair appellate proceeding. We have no doubt that instances of disloyal representation are rare. In both trials and appeals there are, without question, cases in which counsel's performance is ineffective. Even in those cases, however, it is reasonable to assume that counsel's performance is more effective than what the unskilled appellant could have provided for himself.
No one, including Martinez and the
Faretta
majority, attempts to argue that as a rule
pro se
representation is wise, desirable or efficient.
9
Although we found in
Faretta
that the right to defend oneself at trial is "fundamental" in nature, 422 U. S.,
at 817, it is clear that it is representation by counsel that is the standard, not the exception. See
Patterson
v.
Illinois,
As the
Faretta
opinion recognized, the right to self-representation is not absolute. The defendant must " `voluntarily and intelligently' " elect to conduct his own defense,
In the appellate context, the balance between the two competing interests surely tips in favor of the State. The status of the accused defendant, who retains a presumption of innocence throughout the trial process, changes dramatically when a jury returns a guilty verdict. We have recognized this shifting focus and noted:
"[T]here are significant differences between the trial and appellate stages of a criminal proceeding. The purpose of the trial stage from the State's point of view is to convert a criminal defendant from a person presumed innocent to one found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt... .
"By contrast, it is ordinarily the defendant, rather than the State, who initiates the appellate process, seeking not to fend off the efforts of the State's prosecutor but rather to overturn a finding of guilt made by a judge or a jury below."
Ross
v.
Moffitt,
In the words of the
Faretta
majority, appellate proceedings are simply not a case of "hal[ing] a person into its criminal courts."
The requirement of representation by trained counsel implies no disrespect for the individual inasmuch as it tends to benefit the appellant as well as the court. Courts, of course, may still exercise their discretion to allow a lay person to proceed
pro se.
We already leave to the appellate courts' discretion, keeping "the best interests of both the prisoner and the government in mind," the decision whether to allow a
pro se
appellant to participate in, or even to be present at, oral argument.
Price
v.
Johnston,
III
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that neither the holding nor the reasoning in
Faretta
requires California to recognize a constitutional right to self-representation on direct appeal from a criminal conviction. Our holding is, of course, narrow. It does not preclude the States from recognizing such a right under their own constitutions. Its impact on the law will be minimal, because a lay appellant's rights to participate in appellate proceedings have long been limited by the well-established conclusions that he has no right to be present during appellate proceedings,
Schwab
v.
Berggren,
It is so ordered.
SALVADOR MARTINEZ, PETITIONER
v.
COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH
APPELLATE DISTRICT
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of california
[January 12, 2000]
Justice Kennedy , concurring.
To resolve this case it is unnecessary to cast doubt upon the rationale of
Faretta
v.
California
,
SALVADOR MARTINEZ, PETITIONER
v.
COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH
APPELLATE DISTRICT
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of california
[January 12, 2000]
Justice Breyer , concurring.
I agree with the Court and join its opinion. Because
Justice Scalia
writes separately to underscore the continuing constitutional validity of
Faretta
v.
California,
SALVADOR MARTINEZ, PETITIONER
v.
COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH
APPELLATE DISTRICT
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of california
[January 12, 2000]
Justice Scalia , concurring in the judgment.
I do not share the apparent skepticism of today's opinion concerning the judgment of the Court (often curiously described as merely the judgment of "the majority") in
Faretta
v.
California
,
That asserting the right of self-representation may often, or even usually, work to the defendant's disadvantage is no more remarkable--and no more a basis for withdrawing the right--than is the fact that proceeding without counsel in custodial interrogation, or confessing to the crime, usually works to the defendant's disadvantage. Our system of laws generally presumes that the criminal defendant, after being fully informed, knows his own best interests and does not need them dictated by the State. Any other approach is unworthy of a free people. As Justice Frankfurter eloquently put it for the Court in
Adams
v.
United States ex rel. McCann,
In any event,
Faretta
is relevant to the question before us only to the limited extent that we must decide whether its holding applies to self-representation on appeal. It seems to me that question is readily answered by the fact that there is no constitutional right to appeal. See
McKane
v.
Durston
,
For these reasons, I concur in the judgment of the Court.
See,
e.g.,
Powell
v.
Alabama,
Footnote
2
Compare Myers v. Collins , 8 F. 3d 249, 252 (CA5 1993) (finding right of self-representation extends to appeals); Campbell v. Blodgett , 940 F. 2d 549, 549 (CA9 1991) (same); Chamberlain v. Ericksen , 744 F. 2d 628, 630 (CA8 1984) (same); Commonwealth v. Rogers , 537 Pa. 581, 583, 645 A. 2d 223, 224 (1994) (same); State v. Van Pelt , 305 Ark. 125, 127, 810 S. W. 2d 27, 28 (1991) (same); Webb v. State , 274 Ind. 540, 542, 412 N. E. 2d 790, 792 (1980) (same); Webb v. State , 533 S. W. 2d 780, 784 (Tex. Crim. App. 1976) (same), with United States v. Gillis , 773 F. 2d 549, 560 (CA4 1985) (finding no right of self-representation on appeal); Lumbert v. Finley , 735 F. 2d 239, 246 (CA7 1984) (same); Hill v. State , 656 So. 2d 1271, 1272 (Fla. 1995) (same); State v. Gillespie , 898 S. W. 2d 738 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1994) (same).
Footnote
3
"The colonists brought with them an appreciation of the virtues of self-reliance and a traditional distrust of lawyers. When the Colonies were first settled, `the lawyer was synonymous with the cringing Attorneys-General and Solicitors-General of the Crown and the arbitrary Justices of the King's Court, all bent on the conviction of those who opposed the King's prerogatives, and twisting the law to secure convictions.' This prejudice gained strength in the Colonies where `distrust of lawyers became an institution.' Several Colonies prohibited pleading for hire in the 17th century. The prejudice persisted into the 18th century as `the lower classes came to identify lawyers with the upper class.' The years of Revolution and Confederation saw an upsurge of antilawyer sentiment, a `sudden revival, after the War of the Revolution, of the old dislike and distrust of lawyers as a class.' "
Faretta
,
Footnote
4
Similarly, in the state cases cited by the Court in
Faretta
, see
Footnote
5
See,
e.g., SEC
v.
Sloan,
Footnote
6
A. Conan Doyle, Silver Blaze, in The Complete Sherlock Holmes 383, 400 (1938).
Footnote
7
See Lobsenz, A Constitutional Right to An Appeal: Guarding Against Unacceptable Risks of Erroneous Conviction, 8 U. Puget Sound L. Rev. 375, 376 (1985). Although Washington was the first State to constitutionalize an appeal as of right, almost all of the States historically had some form of discretionary appellate review. See, generally, L. Orfield, Criminal Appeals in America 215-231 (1939).
Footnote
8
1 J. Stephen, A History of the Criminal Law of England 308-310 (1883).
Footnote
9
Some critics argue that the right to proceed pro se at trial in certain cases is akin to allowing the defendant to waive his right to a fair trial. See, e.g., United States v. Farhad , 190 F. 3d 1097, 1106-1107 (CA9 1999) (Reinhardt, J., concurring specially), cert. pending, No. 99-7127.
Footnote
10
Decker, The Sixth Amendment Right to Shoot Oneself in the Foot: An Assessment of the Guarantee of Self-Representation Twenty Years after Faretta, 6 Seton Hall Const. L. J. 483, 598 (1996).
Footnote
11
See id., at 544-550 (collecting cases).
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Citation: 528 U.S. 152
No. 98-7809
Argued: November 09, 1999
Decided: January 12, 2000
Court: United States Supreme Court
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