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People v. Frye7/30/1998
endant affirmatively objected to the delay in his proceedings. In fact, it shows the opposite, that he expressly consented to every continuance. Under these circumstances, we cannot conclude there was any conflict at all between defendant's right to speedy trial and his right to competent counsel.
Nor are we persuaded by the reasoning of the two federal circuit court decisions cited by defendant in support of his argument that having to forego the right to speedy trial in order to secure effective assistance of counsel offends principles of due process. In the first case, United States ex rel. Wilcox v. Johnson (3d Cir. 1977) 555 F.2d 115 (Wilcox), the defendant sought to testify on his own behalf. Defense counsel indicated to the trial court, however, that if the defendant were permitted to testify, she would make a motion to withdraw. The trial court informed the defendant that if he testified counsel would be permitted to withdraw and he would have to represent himself for the remainder of trial. The defendant decided not to testify. (Id. at p. 117.) Later, the federal district court granted the defendant's petition for writ of habeas corpus on the ground the defendant had a constitutional right to testify which only he could waive, and the trial court's rulings deprived the defendant of his right to a fair trial. (Ibid.)
The Third Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of habeas relief. Recognizing the defendant possessed both a statutory right to testify on his own behalf and a constitutional right to be represented by counsel, the court held the threatened loss of counsel not only violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel but impermissibly forced the defendant to forego his statutory right to testify, thus depriving the defendant of a fair trial. Significantly, the appellate court faulted the trial court for failing to accommodate both rights by permitting the defendant to take the stand and giving the defendant the option of substituting counsel if his present counsel then sought to withdraw. (Wilcox, supra, 555 F.2d at pp. 120-121.)
Unlike in Wilcox, where the trial court could have, but failed to reconcile the conflicting rights in the manner suggested by the reviewing court, the trial court here had no need to accommodate defendant's speedy trial right with his desire to be represented by competent, adequately prepared counsel. Having obtained defendant's waiver of the time requirements of sections 686 and 1381 in order to secure counsel and to prepare for trial, the trial court was under no obligation to further consider the theoretical tension between these two rights.
In United States v. Garcia (3d Cir. 1976) 544 F.2d 681 (Garcia), the defendants were promised a lenient sentence for their guilty pleas in exchange for information about their cocaine source. The defendants were not guaranteed immunity from any prosecutions which might result from the information they provided. (Id. at pp. 684-685.) The Third Circuit vacated the sentences, reasoning that the choice put to the defendants - to remain silent and lose the possibility of leniency, or divulge information and risk prosecution - was too coercive, and violated the defendants' constitutional protection against self-incrimination. (Id. at p. 685.)
Although the Garcia court found this particular "Hobson's choice" impermissibly abridged the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, the Garcia decision does not forbid all constitutional tradeoffs. (Garcia, supra, 544 F.2d at p. 685.) Some rights are mutually exclusive. For example, a criminal defendant has a right to remain silent and a right to testify on his own behalf. He cannot do both, and hard choices are not
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