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State v. Lotches12/29/2000
nt engaged in a lengthy colloquy, during which defendant asserted that it was his recollection that the trial judge had told him earlier that, if he wanted to testify, he would have to "wait until the last person to testify." The court responded, correctly, that he had told defendant no such thing. Nonetheless, defendant insisted that that was what he had understood from the statements made to him by the court and that was the reason that he had been sitting silently waiting for the conclusion of the trial. Additionally, he stated:
" ow I would like to testify here. But I would want to sit down and confer with my attorneys tonight before I do that, because I want to go over the questions and what have you with them, because they haven't done that with me yet.
"And I think that again, for the record, I would like to say that both my attorneys have been somewhat reluctant to have me get up and testify on my own behalf, while I've wanted to get up and testify on my own behalf. What their reasons are for not wanting me to testify, I don't know, but I think that I have the constitutional right to testify in my behalf, in my own defense."
The court responded that, earlier, there had been a discussion about the ground rules for any testimony by defendant and that the lawyers were supposed to have researched the extent to which defendant would be allowed to make a speech as opposed to answering questions, and the extent to which the prosecutor would be allowed to cross-examine defendant. The court pointed out that defendant had said nothing further concerning the matter and that his side had rested. When defendant protested further, the court replied, "Well, I'm also hearing you say that you haven't made a final decision as to whether you're going to testify, and if so, what you're going to say, because you said something a moment ago about conferring with your attorneys this evening."
The court advised defendant and his counsel that it was calling a recess for the day and suggested that "you all go on upstairs and talk about it." The court expressly left the matter open until the next day, but reminded defendant that, if he chose to testify, his testimony would be subject to the rules of evidence that apply to any witness.
When the court reconvened the next morning, defense counsel advised the court that they "spoke to [defendant] last night, and he expressed to us he would like to address the court." With that brief introduction, defendant personally addressed the court and expressed his concern that, if he testified, his testimony would be limited within a certain "scope." He told the court that, given the other evidence that had been admitted in the case, "it would seem to me I would be able to go over all the issues of my entire life, because my entire life has been brought out before this court, before this jury, and I don't see where the restrictions come in at." In response, the court summarized the status of the case and once again advised defendant:
" f you were to testify, you'd have to comply with the rules of evidence that apply to every other witness who testifies in court. And you presented your defense earlier in the week and rested, and then the state put on its rebuttal testimony, and then [the surrebuttal witness] testified yesterday, and essentially the case is closed.
"And only after the case was fully closed did you present the issue last night about wanting to testify, and as I understood it, you still had not discussed with your attorneys what it was you intended to say, which was what the situation was on May 27th as well."
Defendant then repeated his view that he had "the right to be able to tes
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