Love v. State

113 N.E.3d 730

Michael J. LOVE, Appellant-Defendant,

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff

Court of Appeals Case No. 49A04-1712-CR-2971

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

FILED October 30, 2018

Attorney for Appellant: Matthew D. Anglemeyer, Indianapolis, Indiana

Attorneys for Appellee: Curtis T. Hill, Jr., Attorney General of Indiana, Ian McLean, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana

Altice, Judge.

Case Summary

[1] Michael Love was charged with two counts of attempted murder. For a period of time, Love was represented by either a public defender or private counsel. Eventually, however, Love requested and was granted permission to proceed pro se, and he did so for over ten months. At a hearing just days before Love's jury trial was set to begin, the trial court terminated his self-representation and, over Love's objection, directed Love's public defender, whom the trial court had appointed as standby counsel, to represent Love at the upcoming jury trial. The jury found Love guilty as charged, and the trial court subsequently sentenced Love to consecutive terms of forty years. On appeal, Love argues that he was improperly denied his constitutional right to represent himself.

[2] We affirm.¹

Facts & Procedural History

Underlying Crime

[3] Love and Sultanna Reed dated and lived together for about three years, during which time they had one child together. Reed also had two other children from prior relationships. After Love and Reed's relationship ended in April of 2015, Reed and her three children moved in with Reed's brother, Zachariah Guyton, and his girlfriend, Becky Smith, and their three young children. At that time, Reed's children were around ages twelve, three, and one.

[4] Around 9:00 a.m. on July 20, 2015, Reed, Guyton, Smith, and five of the children made their way out of the house and across the street to Smith's car. Smith got into the vehicle as Reed and Guyton approached the car with the children. All three adults noticed what appeared to be an old lady walking toward them on the sidewalk about a house or two away. Guyton testified that "[i]t didn't look like your typical old lady."² Transcript Vol. II at 116. The individual was collectively described as "bigger built," wearing a curly, blonde wig, some type of mask, a brown floral dress, stockings, Velcro black shoes, and gloves. Id. at 136. The individual carried a grocery bag and had a limp.

[5] As the individual approached, Reed recognized that it was Love wearing a disguise, and Smith overheard Reed say to him, "I knew that was you." Id. at 137. Reed quickly put her and Love's child in the car. As Love got closer, he drew a gun from the bag and, at close range, fired several shots at Reed, with one striking her in the arm and two in the abdomen/chest area. Guyton put his youngest child in the car and yelled at the other children to get down. He then walked around the vehicle to help Reed and ended up face to face with the shooter, whom, at that moment, he recognized as Love because the mask Love was wearing had fallen exposing part of his face. From about six feet away, Love shot Guyton in the face, under his right eye.

[6] Love fled from the scene down an alley. Upon hearing the gunfire, a neighbor looked out her window and saw someone she believed to be a man "hobbling down the street" away from the shooting. Id. at 179. Smith testified that she saw the shooter turn and "run" down an alley. Id. at 140. Cory Latham was working at a nearby car dealer and heard the gunfire. When he looked up, he saw a person he believed to be a man "at a fast pace walking" across the alley. Id. at 158. Latham recalled that the person was wearing a wig and some sort of gown, but believed the person was a man because of the person's "[m]uscular" calves. Id. Latham then saw a black car "kind of speeding off" down the street, away from the alley. Id. at 160.

[7] Police responded to the scene. As one of the officers drove past the car dealer, Latham flagged the officer down and told him what he had seen. That officer searched the immediate area but did not locate a black car. In the meantime, Guyton told other responding officers what had occurred and identified Love as the shooter. Officers went to Love's address shortly after 10:00 a.m., and around 10:30 a.m., Love arrived driving a black vehicle and in the company of a woman named Lashonna Brown. Love was arrested and taken into custody.

[8] On July 22, 2015, the State charged Love with two counts of attempted murder as Level 1 felonies. At his initial hearing, the trial court appointed a public defender to represent Love. On March 31, 2016, Love filed a pro se motion to dismiss his public defender. The trial court did not rule on this motion because Love hired private counsel who entered an appearance on his behalf on April 12, 2016. Love's private counsel represented him until October 5, 2016, when the trial court granted him leave to withdraw because of Love's unfulfilled financial obligations. That same day, the trial court re-appointed Love's original public defender. At that time, Love's jury trial was set to begin on January 9, 2017.

[9] On November 30, 2016, a week before a final pretrial conference, Love filed a motion requesting to proceed pro se. Love alleged that his public defender had provided inadequate representation in that his public defender was indifferent to his pain and suffering and the neglect of his medical condition by the jail. Love also claimed that his public defender had tried to "blackmail" him into accepting a plea offer. Appellant's Appendix Vol. II at 195. At a December 7, 2016 hearing, the trial court granted Love's request, but appointed Love's public defender as standby counsel. Love informed the court that he would not be ready to go to trial in January, so the court continued the jury trial until March 2017. The jury trial was reset for May 22, 2017, then again to August 21, 2017, and finally to October 30, 2017. Love represented himself until October 27, 2017, when the trial court determined that Love was "not physically in a condition to represent [him]self." Transcript Vol. II at 73.

Love's Medical Condition

[10] Before Love's arrest on July 20, 2015, his medical history included multiple gunshot wounds, chronic back and knee pain, gout, anxiety, and a urostomy along with a nephrostomy bag. His chronic pain was controlled by prescription medication.

[11] Two days after his arrest, the trial court sent a medical inquiry to the jail stating that Love had indicated he was in extreme pain and needed to be seen by a doctor as soon as possible. On August 5, 2015, Love wrote a letter to the court asserting that the Marion County Jail was "not equipped to accomidate [sic] nor manage [his] ongoing complicated urological and surgical history and severe medical needs." Appellant's Appendix Vol. V at 241. Love believed it was "imperative he be released" so he could get proper medical care. Id.

[12] In September and December 2015, Love, who remained in jail, had additional tubes placed on an outpatient basis. On April 14, 2016, Love submitted a jail healthcare request asking for pain medication for "excruciating pain" that he claimed stemmed from strangulated hernias, kidney stones, and his nephrostomy tubes. Id. at 238. He again claimed the jail was neglecting his condition by failing to flush his kidneys three times a day and by refusing to get him necessary surgeries. He also indicated that he was experiencing intestinal and renal incontinence with dark, bloody, and foul-smelling urine.

[13] In May 2016, Love sent another letter to the trial court with dated entries detailing his continued complaints concerning his medical treatment while in jail. He again complained of ongoing pain that he attributed to internal bleeding, strangulated hernias, and kidney infections. He also claimed he was experiencing swelling in his eyes and aching in his ear, that his nephrostomy tubes and bags were leaking, and that he was experiencing migraine headaches from not receiving prescription medication to control the pain from a gunshot wound to his head in which the bullet had not been removed. Love requested that he be released on his own recognizance so that he could obtain necessary medical care and surgeries at his own expense. He stated that given his medical issues and the pain he was experiencing, he could not effectively communicate with his attorney. He also alleged that jail and medical staff were discriminating against him and not providing him with adequate care.

[14] On June 19, June 30, July 15, and July 18, 2016, Love had kidney stone surgeries, the first two of which were unsuccessful. It also appears that medical staff wanted to remove his nephrostomy tube (s) in August of 2016, but that Love instead had a surgery in October 2016 that he described as "terrible." Id. at 231.

[15] On November 24 and 28, 2016, Love submitted jail healthcare requests for pain medication and he also mentioned that he was experiencing swelling and numbness of his legs, feet, ankles, and hands, and that his fingers were locking up. He also filed grievances alleging inadequate post-operative healthcare on November 8 and 9, 2016. In his November 8 grievance, Love mentioned "severe burning & stabbing ... pains in [his] testicles, penis, and bladder," a constant urge to urinate, and frequent intestinal incontinence. Id. at 232. At a December 7, 2016 pretrial conference, Love informed the court about the swelling and numbness he was experiencing. On January 4, 2017, Love submitted a jail healthcare request mentioning he was urinating blood and that he had an infection. At a pretrial conference on May 16, 2017, Love moved for a continuance because he was in excruciating pain from a hernia. At an August 16, 2017 pretrial conference, Love informed the court that he had blood clots in his eyes.

Love's Self-Representation

[16] During the December 7, 2016 hearing on Love's request to proceed pro se, Love told the trial...