Chief Justice SUTTELL, for the Court.
The defendant, Ana M. Cruz, appeals from a Superior Court judgment of conviction, having been found guilty on two counts: (1) resisting arrest in violation of G.L.1956 § 12-7-10; and (2) disorderly conduct in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-45-1. On appeal, the defendant argues that her right to counsel, guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article 1, section 10 of the Rhode Island Constitution, was violated when the trial justice allowed her to represent herself at trial without first determining whether she had made a knowing and intelligent waiver of her right to counsel. This case came before the Supreme Court pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be summarily decided. After considering the parties' written and oral submissions and reviewing the record, we conclude that cause has not been shown and that this case may be decided without further briefing or argument. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.
On July 7, 2012, police officer Jared Hardy of the Cranston police department received a dispatch call regarding a "report of a one-year-old walking around nude in the street" near 57 Lakeside Drive. Because that area in Cranston was part of Officer Hardy's "beat," he drove there immediately in order to respond to the call. Officer Hardy arrived, ninety seconds later, at 57 Lakeside Drive in his patrol car and dressed in his police uniform. After scanning the area for children, he did not find a nude child in front of that address. Therefore, he approached the residence at 57 Lakeside Drive and unsuccessfully tried to "raise the resident." He testified that he rang the doorbell, as well as knocked several times. Officer Hardy testified that he heard "children's voices coming from the backyard," which
Once in the backyard, Officer Hardy testified, he saw two young males, approximately five and three years of age. Further, he described, "[t]he three-year-old was wearing a T-shirt, underwear, no pants and he was playing around in a patio that had several pieces of broken glass spread about it." Officer Hardy testified that the backyard was on a steep hill, which led directly down to a lake without anything besides "a lightly wooded area" obstructing access to the water. He stated that these children were not being supervised at the time in the backyard. At trial, defendant's daughter, Esmerelda Morontoro, testified that she was in the upstairs window at the time throwing a toy parachute down to the children while they were playing in the backyard. While still in the backyard, the officer questioned the children about the present location of their parents. In response, the smaller child indicated that his mother was inside and offered to bring the officer to her. Officer Hardy testified that "[t]here [wa]s a three-year-old I don't think should be unsupervised especially around a lake, pantless and barefoot in a glassy area. I think it was a dereliction of my duty if I walked away from that three-year-old with no adult supervision." Consequently, the officer followed the two children into the home to find the boy's mother.
After walking through a playroom and kitchen, he entered a living room where he came upon four women in conversation. Officer Hardy testified that defendant was among the group and that he asked the women which one was the mother of the scantily-clad three-year-old. At trial, defendant testified that she was cleaning up the living room when the officer entered her home and she asked, "could I help you?" Because Officer Hardy entered the home to find the smaller child's mother, he continued to pursue that line of questioning with the women. At trial, the officer testified that he believed one of the women, Crystal Bretton, was the smaller child's mother based upon his observations of the child pointing to her and her ensuing nervous demeanor. According to defendant's testimony, Bretton was upstairs when the officer entered; shortly after she came downstairs, Officer Hardy said that he was going to call the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). Officer Hardy, however, repeatedly denied that he ever made any call or reference to DCYF.
Officer Hardy testified that defendant was "getting between me and [Bretton] and beginning to raise her voice." Furthermore, he testified that defendant was "pointing her finger in my face. Everything she sa[id] [wa]s in an aggressive manner, you don't have a right to be talking to my daughter,[
Following the chaotic events at her home, defendant was charged with: (1) assault and battery in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-5-3; (2) resisting arrest in violation of § 12-7-10; and (3) disorderly conduct in violation of § 11-45-1. After a District Court trial on November 28, 2012, defendant was found not guilty of assault and battery and guilty of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. The defendant received a one-year guilty filing on the resisting arrest offense and twenty hours of community service on the disorderly conduct offense. The defendant appealed her conviction to the Superior Court on November 28, 2012. A jury trial occurred in the Superior Court on June 11 and 13, 2013, on the counts of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Prior to the trial, the trial justice offered defendant, who at the time was represented by counsel, the opportunity to accept a one-year filing, during which period defendant would maintain her not-guilty plea on the condition that she "keep the peace and be of good behavior." The charges would then be dismissed. The defendant rejected the offer, and the trial justice proceeded to empanel a jury.
After releasing her attorney, defendant continued without representation for the duration of the trial. After a two-day jury trial in Superior Court, the jury found defendant guilty of both resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. The defendant was sentenced to five months of probation for each count, ordered to run concurrently.
"With respect to a trial justice's determination as to whether or not a criminal defendant's waiver of his or her Sixth Amendment right to counsel is knowing, voluntary, and intelligent," this Court reviews this constitutional inquiry de novo. State v. Sampson, 24 A.3d 1131, 1139 (R.I. 2011); see also State v. Brumfield, 900 A.2d 1151, 1153 (R.I.2006); State v. Laurence, 848 A.2d 238, 253 (R.I.2004); State v. Thornton, 800 A.2d 1016, 1026 (R.I. 2002). Nevertheless, "[e]ven when the de novo standard is applied to issues of constitutional dimension, we still accord a hearing justice's findings of historical fact, and inferences drawn from those facts, great deference in conducting our review." State v. Eddy, 68 A.3d 1089, 1098 (R.I. 2013) (quoting Thornton v. State, 948 A.2d 312, 316 (R.I.2008)).
On appeal, defendant argues that her Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated because the trial justice permitted her to represent herself without first determining whether she had made a constitutionally valid, knowing and intelligent waiver of counsel. In particular, defendant contends that the trial justice failed to determine whether she "understood the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation * * *." The state argues that defendant made a voluntary waiver of her right to counsel and "that she appreciated the risks in so doing[] * * *." Additionally, the state asserts that the colloquies at trial demonstrate that defendant's waiver of counsel was constitutionally valid in that it was "knowing and informed."
In conducting this constitutional inquiry, this Court examines the totality of the circumstances. Chabot, 682 A.2d at 1379-80. A valid waiver is effective only if a "defendant `knows what he [or she] is doing and his [or her] choice is made with eyes open.'" Id. at 1380 (emphasis omitted) (quoting Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. 2525). A criminal defendant, therefore, should be "made aware of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation." Id. (quoting Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. 2525). To that end, the presence of a detailed colloquy between a trial justice and a defendant on the record assists the trial justice in ascertaining the knowing and intelligent nature of a defendant's waiver. See Spencer, 783 A.2d at 416. However, this Court has recognized that "such an inquiry is not constitutionally required." Id; see also Thornton, 800 A.2d at 1026. Instead, "[w]e are persuaded that an examination of the totality of the circumstances, in light of the particular stage of the proceedings at the time the waiver is proposed, is the better approach to determine whether a waiver of counsel is knowing, voluntary and intelligent." Thornton, 800 A.2d at 1027 (quoting Spencer, 783 A.2d at 417). Moreover, a trial justice "need not make any assessment of the extent of the defendant's technical legal knowledge in determining the defendant's knowing exercise of the right to defend himself." State v. Briggs, 787 A.2d 479, 485 (R.I.2001) (quoting State v. Costa, 604 A.2d 329, 330 (R.I.1992)).
In Chabot, 682 A.2d at 1380, we elucidated six factors (Chabot factors) to aid trial justices in assessing the validity of a waiver of counsel when the competence of a defendant is in question at the time of the ostensible waiver. These factors include:
This Court has articulated that the application of these factors by a trial justice is mandatory only when the mental competency
We first consider the voluntariness of defendant's waiver of counsel. On appeal, defendant's arguments appear to focus on the second prong of our waiver analysis, alleging a constitutional deficiency in the knowing and intelligent nature of her waiver. Nevertheless, we briefly examine whether defendant waived her right to counsel voluntarily. On the heels of her request to release counsel, defendant plainly conveyed to the trial justice, "I will represent myself." As this Court has previously recognized, "[i]t is generally acknowledged that absent any showing of `good cause' for a defendant's refusal to accept court-appointed counsel, such refusal is functionally equivalent to a voluntary waiver of the right to counsel." Laurence, 848 A.2d at 253 (quoting Thornton, 800 A.2d at 1025). Moreover, on the record before us, the lengthy colloquies between the trial justice and defendant establish that defendant's decision — to waive counsel and proceed pro se at trial — was a product of her own free will. For these reasons, we are satisfied that defendant's waiver of counsel was voluntary.
Next, we consider whether defendant's waiver of counsel was knowingly and intelligently executed. The trial justice
In exploring defendant's options moving forward, the trial justice did revisit her offer of a not-guilty filing provided defendant "keep the peace and be of good behavior." In response, defendant again explained the rationale behind her refusal to accept the not-guilty filing, which demonstrated her reasonable apprehension and concern based on her previous interactions with police and her neighbors. When she initially rejected the trial justice's offer of a not-guilty filing, defendant explained: "I came from the Dominican Republic. I have an organization. I help a lot of kids to keep them off the street, teach them about their rights, the same way I'm going through right now and I'm innocent and if I decide to take this, I will not live with myself at all." The defendant's introspection evidences her grasp of the circumstances before her, as well as the potential perils beyond her control associated with the not-guilty filing. Later in the colloquy, when defendant did not appear amenable to any option besides proceeding pro se, the trial justice presented the option of having her attorney serve as standby counsel.
Although the trial justice engaged in a colloquy with defendant, she did not explicitly apply the Chabot factors. Nevertheless, even though the factors remain relevant, this Court has consistently stated that a trial justice is required only to employ the Chabot factors when there are questions regarding the mental competency of a defendant. See, e.g., Thornton, 800 A.2d at 1027; Briggs, 787 A.2d at 486; Spencer, 783 A.2d at 416-17. Now, on appeal, the argument that defendant advances suggests that, as the trial progressed, her conduct brought to light questions concerning her mental competency. She contends that the trial justice erred in not probing more deeply into her mental health because "red flags were waving for Chabot's application in this matter since there were legitimate doubts about most of the Chabot factors."
Moreover, the trial justice had no circumstances before her to suggest that defendant was presently affected by or had a history of any psychiatric diagnosis or treatment. See Rose, 994 A.2d at 664-65, 665 n. 6 (noting that there was no evidence in the record to alert the hearing justice to the defendant having any potential mental disability that warranted the application of the Chabot factors). As such, the facts of this case are distinct from those in Chabot, 682 A.2d at 1380, where the trial justice knew that the defendant had been a patient and had been prescribed medication in a psychiatric care unit for five months before the probation-revocation hearing. In that case, we held that the defendant's waiver of counsel was not valid because a more thorough inquiry, involving the Chabot factors, was necessary based on those facts. Id. at 1380-81. Similarly, in Holds-worth, 798 A.2d at 924, the trial justice was aware that the defendant had previously been a patient at a mental health facility. In light of that fact, this Court determined that the defendant's waiver of counsel was not valid because the trial justice had not applied the Chabot factors. Id. at 924-25.
At the time of defendant's waiver of counsel, the record before us, however, does not present analogous facts. Therefore, although an explicit Chabot discussion would have been preferable, the absence of such a colloquy does not infect defendant's waiver of counsel with any constitutional defect. As our review is confined to the written record, we emphasize the fact that the trial justice, who had the benefit of seeing and hearing defendant firsthand, made the decision that application of the Chabot factors was not necessary.
Also, defendant repeatedly expressed her unwillingness to accept a one-year not-guilty filing of the charges, realizing that the charges would not disappear during that year. She explained that she lived in a predominantly white neighborhood, which she described as "the wrong neighborhood," and she expressed a distrust of both her neighbors and the police because she is "Spanish." She indicated that this incident was not the first time the police had come into her house without an invitation. She maintained her innocence and clearly did not want these charges hanging over her head for another year. Rather, she wanted them resolved by a jury trial. We cannot conclude that, as defendant argues on appeal, the very fact that she rejected a not-guilty filing "was not a rational decision."
We next turn to address defendant's appellate argument that chronicles her many deficiencies in self-representation at trial to bolster her contention that the Chabot factors should have been applied. The Supreme Court has established that "the competence that is required of a defendant seeking to waive h[er] right to counsel is the competence to waive the right, not the competence to represent h[er]self" Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S. 389, 399, 113 S.Ct. 2680, 125 L.Ed.2d 321 (1993). "Thus, while `[i]t is undeniable that in most criminal prosecutions defendants could better defend with counsel's guidance than by their own unskilled efforts,' * * * a criminal defendant's ability to represent h[er]self has no bearing upon h[er] competence to choose self-representation." Id. at 400, 113 S.Ct. 2680 (quoting Faretta, 422 U.S. at 834, 95 S.Ct. 2525).
Further, the Supreme Court, as well as this Court, has made clear that "technical legal knowledge" is not relevant to whether a defendant made a knowing and intelligent waiver of counsel. See, e.g., Faretta, 422 U.S. at 836, 95 S.Ct. 2525; Sampson, 24 A.3d at 1143; Costa, 604 A.2d at 330. Consequently, we do not consider defendant's missteps at trial due — at least in large part — to her lack of knowledge of law and trial procedure as part of the knowing and intelligent inquiry in our waiver validity analysis. Moreover, we echo one of the Supreme Court's fundamental teachings on the right of self-representation that, "although [defendant] may conduct h[er] own defense ultimately to h[er] own detriment, h[er] choice must be honored out of `that respect for the individual which is the lifeblood of the law.'" Faretta, 422 U.S. at 834, 95 S.Ct. 2525 (quoting Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. 337, 350-51, 90 S.Ct. 1057, 25 L.Ed.2d 353 (1970) (Brennan, J., concurring)).
Although it would have been preferable for the trial justice to specifically address some of the pertinent Chabot factors, we are not persuaded that such an inquiry would have produced any evidence to suggest that defendant's waiver of counsel was not knowing and intelligent. See Spencer, 783 A.2d at 417-18. Accordingly, in light of the particular stage of the proceedings, the facts before the trial justice at the time of waiver, and the trial justice having the benefit of seeing and hearing defendant, we believe that the trial justice engaged in a pragmatic colloquy sufficient to establish the validity of defendant's waiver. See id.
After careful consideration of the totality of the circumstances at the time of the defendant's waiver, we conclude that the record establishes the defendant's voluntary, knowing, and intelligent waiver of her right to counsel. The defendant made
For the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the Superior Court is affirmed. The record of this case shall be returned to the Superior Court.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court did establish that states may "adopt competency standards that are more elaborate than the [Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 4 L.Ed.2d 824 (1960),] formulation * * *." Godinez, 509 U.S. at 396, 402, 113 S.Ct. 2680 ("In [Dusky], we held that the standard for competence to stand trial is whether the defendant has a `sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding' and has `a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.'"). Under this Court's precedent, "[w]e previously have determined that a defendant is subjected to a heightened standard of competency when he [or she] attempts to waive counsel and appear pro se." State v. Thomas, 794 A.2d 990, 994 (R.I.2002). This heightened standard requires the application of the Chabot factors when a defendant's mental competency is in question at the time of the waiver, in order to determine whether a defendant is making a voluntary, knowing, and intelligent waiver. State v. Chabot, 682 A.2d 1377, 1380 (R.I. 1996). In the present case, no suggestion was made either at trial or on appeal that defendant was not competent to stand trial. This opinion is confined to the facts of this case and the only issue on appeal, which is whether defendant's waiver of counsel was constitutionally valid.