FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION FEB 20 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 12-50543
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 3:11-cr-03529-1 BEN
v.
MEMORANDUM*
ROBERT LEE WILLIAMS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Robert T. Benitez, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted February 6, 2014
Pasadena, California
Before: SCHROEDER and CLIFTON, Circuit Judges, and COGAN, District
Judge.**
Robert Lee Williams appeals his convictions and sentence for receipt of and
possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(2) and
(a)(4)(B). We affirm.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The Honorable Brian M. Cogan, United States District Judge for the Eastern
District of New York, sitting by designation.
The district court did not err in conducting an abbreviated colloquy pursuant
to Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975), in May 2012 because the record as a
whole reveals that appellant’s waiver of counsel was knowing and intelligent. See
United States v. Erskine, 355 F.3d 1161, 1168 (9th Cir. 2004); United States v.
Balough, 820 F.2d 1485, 1488 (9th Cir. 1987). Appellant had been warned
numerous times of the dangers of representing himself, and he acknowledged that
the district court had already conducted a lengthy Faretta colloquy in September
2011. Based on this, it is clear that appellant was “aware of the dangers and
disadvantages of self-representation,” and that “he kn[ew] what he [wa]s doing and
his choice [wa]s made with eyes open.” United States v. Aponte, 591 F.2d 1247,
1249 (9th Cir. 1978) (quoting Adams v. United States ex rel. McCann, 317 U.S.
269, 279 (1942)).
We reject appellant’s argument that the district court was required to hold a
full competency hearing and appoint counsel. Before a court can sua sponte order
a competency hearing under 18 U.S.C. § 4241(a), the court must find that there is
“substantial evidence of incompetence.” United States v. Fernandez, 388 F.3d
1199, 1251 (9th Cir. 2004). Here, the record indicates that substantial evidence of
incompetence was lacking, and a psychiatric report found appellant competent.
2
See id.; United States v. Lewis, 991 F.2d 524, 527 (9th Cir. 1993).1 Moreover, the
psychiatric report, which noted that appellant had an average to high average
intellectual range, that he understood the criminal charges against him and the
related court proceedings, and that he could explain his rationale for representing
himself, provided enough information for the district court to assess appellant’s
competency in accordance with Indiana v. Edwards, 554 U.S. 164 (2008).
Finally, the district court did not err in failing to suppress appellant’s
answers in the Confidential Pre-Investigative Questionnaire because appellant had
no legitimate expectation of privacy in answers that he voluntarily gave in the
questionnaire. See United States v. Miller, 425 U.S. 435, 441-43 (1976) (in order
for defendant to have a legitimate expectation of privacy, documents must be
“private papers”).
AFFIRMED.
1
Because the district court did not err in failing to hold a competency hearing, we
reject appellant’s argument that the district court should have appointed counsel
after it expressed concerns about appellant’s competency. Appellant cites to no
case law or statute that would require the district court to appoint an attorney when
a competency hearing is not held.
3