ROBERT L. EIB, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Robert Eib appeals his conviction and sentences for drug sales, arguing the trial court erred by denying his motion to proceed pro se without conducting a proper Faretta hearing. The court held that while the failure to conduct a proper Faretta hearing requires reversal of the sentences, reversal of the judgment is not automatically required because Eib may elect different representation or competency may be questioned on remand.
The trial court erred by failing to conduct a proper Faretta hearing at the critical stage of sentencing, requiring reversal of the sentences and remand for resentencing. However, reversal of the judgment is not required because on remand Eib may elect to proceed with counsel or the trial court may determine he is incompetent to waive counsel; if Eib again seeks to waive counsel and is competent to do so, the trial court should conduct a proper Faretta hearing and consider his pro se motions.
[1] A trial court must conduct a hearing to determine if a defendant knowingly and intelligently waives the right to court-appointed counsel when an unequivocal request for s…
[2] A defendant need not articulate a reason to invoke the right of self-representation.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Defendants in a criminal trial have a constitutional right of self-representation, and thus once a defendant makes an unequivocal request for self-representation, the trial court must hold a hearing to determine whether the defendant is knowingly and intelligently waiving his right to court-appointed counsel.”
Establishes the fundamental right to self-representation and the trial court's obligation to hold a proper Faretta hearing
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRobert Eib was convicted by jury trial of two counts of sale of cocaine and two counts of sale of hydrocodone. After trial but before sentencing, Eib …
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Robert Eib appeals, his judgment and sentences for two counts of sale of cocaine and two counts of sale of hydrocodone. After trial, but before sentencing, Eib filed a motion to proceed pro se. He argues that the trial court erred by denying the motion after failing to conduct a proper hearing pursuant to Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975). The Státe properly concedes''error. ' However, while we agree that Eib’s sentences must be reversed, we conclude that a reversal of thé judgment is not required at this time.
Our record reflects that at the hearing on Eib’s motion, the trial court inquired about Eib’s dissatisfaction with his counsel. Eib expressed that his counsel was not putting forth enough effort on his case and that his counsel complained that the case was too complex. After counsel denied making such a statement, both he and Eib provided conflicting accounts of conversations that occurred between them. Although Eib’s trial counsel aéked the court to let him withdraw from the case and to allow Eib to proceed pro se, the trial court denied Eib’s motion. In doing so, the trial court commented that Eib presented .insufficient evidence that his counsel was ineffective. The transcript reflects then that the hearing was more in the nature of a Nelson1 hearing, rather than a Faretta hearing..
Defendants in a criminal trial have a constitutional right of self-representation, and thus once a defendant makes an unequivocal request for self-representation, thé" trial court must “hold a hearing! ] to determine whether' the defendant is knowingly and' intelligently waiving his right to court-appointed counsel.” Tennis v. State, 997 So.2d 375, 378 (Fla.2008). “[A] defendant need not articulate a reason to invoke his right of self-representation.” Laramee v. State, 90 So.3d 341, 345 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012). As part of the Far-etta inquiry, “[t]rial courts are ... required to instruct defendants about the disadvantages and dangers associated with self-representation.” Goldsmith v. State, 937. So.2d 1253, 1256 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006). The failure to hold a proper Faretta hearing at a critical stage of the proceedings is reversible error. See Tennis, 997 So.2d at 379; Tarver v. State, 145 So.3d 911, 912 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014); Goldsmith, 937 So.2d at 1256. Sentencing is a critical stage of the proceedings. See Cuyler v. State, 131 So.3d 827, 828 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014). Consequently, because the trial court failed to *980conduct a proper Faretta hearing, we must reverse Eib’s sentences and remand for resentencing.2
In addition to challenging the denial of his motion to proceed pro se, Eib also challenges the denial of his pro se motions for judgment of acquittal, new trial, and mistrial and to disqualify the trial judge. These motions were filed after Eib’s counsel filed motions for judgment of acquittal and new trial on Eib’s behalf. At the hearing on the motions filed by counsel, counsel referred to one of the arguments made by Eib in Eib’s pro se motion for mistrial. However, counsel did not refer to any other arguments contained within Eib’s pro se motions, and Eib’s pro se motions were not specifically denied. The pro se motions were also a critical stage of the proceedings, see Howard v. State, 147 So.3d 1040, 1043 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014), and the trial court’s failure to conduct a proper Faretta hearing therefore may have affected Eib’s right to proceed pro se on the pro se posttrial motions.3
Yet despite the fact that the trial court’s failure to address Eib’s other pro se posttrial motions appears to have flowed from the failure to conduct a proper Faretta hearing, we conclude that an automatic reversal of the order denying counsel’s motion for judgment of acquittal and motion for new trial is not required.4 This is because there, is a possibility that on remand, Eib may either elect to proceed with counsel or the trial court may determine that Eib is not competent to waive his right to counsel. If Eib again seeks to waive his right to counsel, the trial court should conduct a proper Faretta inquiry and determine whether Eib is competent to do so. If the trial court determines that Eib is knowingly and intelligently waiving his right to counsel,’ Eib should be allowed to represent himself at the resentencing hearing,5 the order denying counsel’s motions for judgment'of acquittal and hew trial should be vacated, and the trial court should consider Eib’s pro se posttrial motions. However, if Eib elects not to seek to waive his right to counsel, or if the trial court finds that he is not competent to waive , his right to counsel, the order denying counsel’s motions for judgment of acquittal and new trial shall remain in effect, and the trial court will not need to consider Eib’s pro se motions as..he will remain represented by counsel. See Sheppard v. State, 17 So.3d 275, 279 (Fla.2009).
Finally, we note that the judgment form contains a scrivener’s error. The form incorrectly states that Eib pleaded no contest to the charges when, in fact, he was found guilty after a jury trial. On remand, the trial court should correct the judgment *981form to accurately reflect the procedural posture of Eib’s conviction.
Because we found no error warranting a reversal of the judgment, we . affirm.6 However,.we reverse Eib’s sentences and remand for resentencing and correction of the scrivener’s error. ' •
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for proceedings in conformance with this opinion.
SILBERMAN and BLACK, JJ., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Mourad Balzourt v. State, 214 So. 3d 714 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017)…flict of interest” claim, but failed to conduct a Faretta inquiry. Thereafter, Balzourt’s request for self-representation was denied. Failure to hold a proper Faretta hearing at a critical stage of the proceedings is reversible error. Eib v. State, 191 So. 3d 977, 979 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). Sentencing is a critical stage of the proceedings. Id. Appellate counsel was ineffective in not raising on direct appeal the trial court’s [*716] failure to conduct a Faretta inquiry. Given that Balzourt was sentenced to li…
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Davis v. State, 230 So. 3d 948 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)…fendant is knowingly and intelligently waiving his right to counsel.”). Mr, Davis told the court that he had represented himself successfully before. However, this does not waive the trial court’s duty to conduct a Faretta inquiry. See Eib v. State, 191 So. 3d 977, 979 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (“As part of the Faretta inquiry, ‘[t]rial courts are ... required to instruct defendants about the disadvantages and dangers associated with self-representation.’ ” (alteration in original) (quoting Goldsmith v. State, 937 S…
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Antonious White v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2022)…8). "[O]nce a defendant makes an unequivocal request for self- representation, the trial court must 'hold a hearing[ ] to determine whether the defendant is knowingly and intelligently waiving his right to court-appointed counsel.' " Eib v. State, 191 So. 3d 977, 979 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (second alteration in original) (quoting Tennis, 997 So. 2d at 378). The court is also required to inform defendants about the disadvantages and dangers associated with self-representation. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.111(d)(2)…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (U.S. 1975)
- Nelson v. State, 274 So. 2d 256 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973)
- Sheppard v. State, 17 So. 3d 275 (Fla. 2009)
- Gabby Tennis v. State, 997 So. 2d 375 (Fla. 2008)
- Laramee v. State, 90 So. 3d 341 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012)
- Cuyler v. State, 131 So. 3d 827 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)
- Howard v. State, 147 So. 3d 1040 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)
- Murray v. State, 1 So. 3d 407 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)
- Tarver v. State, 145 So. 3d 911 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)