In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
____________________
No. 14‐3461
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff‐Appellee,
v.
JOSEPH BANKS,
Defendant‐Appellant.
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.
No. 08 CR 688 — Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, Judge.
____________________
ARGUED DECEMBER 4, 2015 — DECIDED JULY 8, 2016
____________________
Before POSNER, FLAUM, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge. Defendant Joseph Banks was
convicted of committing or attempting to commit four sepa‐
rate robberies over a 12‐month period between 2007 and
2008, and was sentenced to 432 months’ imprisonment. On
appeal, Banks challenges both his conviction and his sen‐
tence. He claims that the district court violated his right to
counsel under the Sixth Amendment not only by permitting
2 No. 14‐3461
him to waive his right to counsel and proceed pro se on the
eve of trial, but also by not rescinding the waiver when it be‐
came clear during trial that he would forgo participating in
most of the trial proceedings. We disagree. The district court
permitted Banks to proceed pro se only after concluding that
his waiver of his right to trial counsel was both knowing and
voluntary.
In addition, Banks argues that the district court commit‐
ted procedural error during his sentencing hearing by failing
to adequately justify his sentence, by failing to address sev‐
eral of his principal mitigation arguments, and by treating
the federal sentencing guidelines as mandatory. However,
we find that the district court adequately explained the rea‐
sons for Banks’s sentence, addressed his principal mitigation
arguments, and did not treat the Guidelines as mandatory.
So we affirm the district court’s judgment.
I. BACKGROUND
Banks was charged with two counts of bank robbery and
two counts of attempted bank robbery in connection with
four separate incidents that occurred between August 2007
and August 2008. All four incidents involved the use of a
gun, and two were particularly violent. On one occasion,
Banks pulled one bank employee to the ground and pointed
a gun at him. Afterward, he hit another employee over the
head with the gun, causing the employee to turn pale, fall to
the floor, and hyperventilate. On another occasion, Banks
forced a bystander into the bank at gunpoint.
A. Trial Proceedings
Over four years elapsed between the filing of a criminal
complaint against Banks in September 2008 and the com‐
No. 14‐3461 3
mencement of his trial in December 2012. Much of the delay
is attributable to Banks repeatedly terminating his counsel—
five separate times in total. The final termination—the only
relevant one on appeal—took place on the first day of trial.
Shortly before jury selection was to commence, Banks’s
counsel informed the district court that Banks had “relieved”
him, and that Banks intended to proceed “in propria persona”
(which the counsel understood to mean pro se). A colloquy
between Banks and the district court ensued in which Banks
insisted that the court lacked jurisdiction over him. After the
court asked Banks’s counsel to stay on in a stand‐by capaci‐
ty, the colloquy continued. Banks was informed of the
charges against him and the potential penalties he would
face if convicted. He confirmed that he intended to represent
himself at trial, and noted that he had been studying the law
while in custody. He also confirmed he understood that pro‐
ceeding pro se was a serious decision that no one had pushed
him to make, and that the court would not provide him with
any advice. The court ultimately concluded that Banks had
knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to counsel, and
the trial continued.
Banks’s participation in the trial was minimal. He de‐
clined to object to the government’s motions in limine, strike
any jurors, present his own witnesses, cross‐examine the
government’s witnesses, object to any of the government’s
questions, or comment on the jury instructions. Rather, his
participation was often confined to stating that he was “cap‐
tive” and would not be “partaking in this proceeding.” In
addition, he repeatedly asked (unsuccessfully) to be excused
from attending the trial, and rebuffed the district judge’s
numerous suggestions that he permit his standby counsel to
4 No. 14‐3461
represent him. Banks did attempt, however, to make open‐
ing and closing statements, but when he failed to confine his
remarks to trial evidence (expected or presented) the district
judge cut him off. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury con‐
victed him on all four counts.
B. Post‐Trial Proceedings
Several days after the jury rendered its verdict, Banks es‐
caped from the downtown Chicago prison where he was be‐
ing held pending sentencing. He and his cellmate cut a hole
in the cinderblock wall and, using a rope comprised of bed‐
sheets and dental floss, rappelled 17 stories down the build‐
ing’s exterior wall in the middle of the night. After a two‐
day manhunt, law enforcement apprehended Banks several
miles from the prison. (The government initially charged
Banks with escaping from federal custody but later dis‐
missed the complaint voluntarily.)
Shortly after Banks was returned to custody, he consent‐
ed to representation by counsel, who filed on his behalf a
motion for a new trial and for acquittal. Banks argued that
he had not knowingly or voluntarily waived his right to
counsel, and that the district court should have permitted his
stand‐by counsel to make a closing argument for him upon
terminating his closing remarks. The district court denied
the motion, concluding that Banks clearly demonstrated that
he did not want to be represented by counsel and that the
court was not required to compel attorney representation.
The court also emphasized that she had repeatedly warned
Banks to focus his closing argument on admitted evidence
before she cut him off.
No. 14‐3461 5
In preparation for sentencing, the probation office pre‐
pared a presentence report (PSR) that calculated a total of‐
fense level of 38, a criminal history category of VI, and a
Guidelines range of 360 to 390 months’ imprisonment. In
advocating for a 180‐month sentence, Banks argued that his
criminal history overstated the degree of harm he posed to
the public, and that a shorter sentence was warranted due to
his poor self‐representation at trial and the likelihood that
the harsh prison conditions he had endured post‐escape
would continue. The government advocated for a 540‐month
sentence and asked the court take Banks’s escape into ac‐
count. The district court adopted the PSR’s offense‐level and
criminal‐history calculations, and concluded that the Guide‐
lines recommended a sentence of 360 months’ imprisonment
to life. After hearing arguments and testimony from both
parties, the court sentenced Banks to 432 months’ imprison‐
ment.
II. ANALYSIS
On appeal, Banks claims that the district court erroneous‐
ly concluded that he had knowingly and voluntarily waived
his right to counsel before jury selection occurred, and that
the court should have revoked his waiver when Banks re‐
fused to participate in the trial. Banks also argues that the
district judge committed various procedural errors in arriv‐
ing at and explaining his sentence. We disagree.
A. No Error to Allow Banks to Represent Himself
Both parties here insist that we generally review a waiver
of one’s right to counsel for abuse of discretion and cite cases
that are in accordance. But as the government correctly con‐
cedes, there is a separate line of cases indicating that de novo
6 No. 14‐3461
review is the proper standard. See generally United States v.
Clark, 774 F.3d 1108, 1112 (7th Cir. 2014); United States v.
Todd, 424 F.3d 525, 530 n.1 (7th Cir. 2005). We need not re‐
solve this disagreement, since Banks’s claims fail under ei‐
ther standard.
1. Banks’s Waiver Was Knowing and Voluntary
The Constitution guarantees all defendants the right to
counsel during a criminal trial. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S.
806, 807 (1975). It is equally well established, however, that a
criminal defendant may waive that right and proceed pro se
when he knowingly and voluntarily elects to do so. Id. at
834–35. When such a waiver is timely made by a competent
defendant, a trial court may not deny it. Imani v. Pollard, No.
14‐3407, 2016 WL 3434673, at *3 (7th Cir. June 22, 2016).
Waiver is permissible even though the defendant “may
ultimately conduct his own defense to his detriment.” United
States v. Avery, 208 F.3d 597, 601 (7th Cir. 2000). But he must
still “be made aware of the dangers and disadvantages of
self‐representation, so that the record will establish that he
knows what he is doing and his choice is made with eyes
open.” Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835 (citation and internal quota‐
tion marks omitted); see also United States v. Boultinghouse,
784 F.3d 1163, 1171 (7th Cir. 2015) (instructing trial courts to
“engag[e] the defendant in a colloquy”). To determine
whether a waiver was knowing and voluntary, we examine
the record as a whole and consider four factors: (1) the extent
of the district court’s formal inquiry into the defendant’s de‐
cision; (2) the evidence in the record about whether the de‐
fendant understood the dangers and disadvantages of self‐
representation; (3) the defendant’s background and experi‐
ence; and (4) the context of the defendant’s decision. United
No. 14‐3461 7
States v. Volpentesta, 727 F.3d 666, 677 (7th Cir. 2013) (cita‐
tions omitted).
We conclude that Banks knowingly and voluntarily
waived his right to counsel. The court’s colloquy with Banks
was wide‐ranging and thorough. She inquired into Banks’s
legal education, as well as his familiarity with the Federal
Rules of Evidence and Criminal Procedure, history of self‐
representation, and objection to the court’s jurisdiction over
him. In addition, the court stressed that if Banks proceeded
pro se, she would not advise him about how to proceed in the
courtroom and would follow the Federal Rules of Evidence
regardless of whether he made the appropriate objections.
This colloquy adequately apprised Banks of the dangers
of proceeding pro se. The district court had the government
explain the charges and possible penalties and reiterated the
maximum penalties—80 years in prison and a $1,000,000
fine. She also repeatedly told Banks that deciding to proceed
without counsel was a very serious decision, and advised
that he should allow his appointed counsel to represent him.
See United States v. Hoskins, 243 F.3d 407, 409 (7th Cir. 2001)
(upholding waiver where district court advised defendant
that he “would be far better off being defended by a trained
lawyer and that it would be ‘unwise’ to defend himself be‐
cause of the complexity of the legal issues involved”).
The context of Banks’s decision further suggests that his
waiver was knowing and voluntary. Banks fired his trial
counsel (at least in part) in order to make his sovereign‐
citizen defense that the court lacked jurisdiction over him.1
1 “Defendants claiming to be ‘sovereign citizens’ assert that the fed‐
eral government is illegitimate and insist that they are not subject to its
8 No. 14‐3461
We have repeatedly observed that “[a] waiver is likely
knowing and voluntary if the defendant gave it for strategic
reasons or after repeatedly rejecting the assistance of coun‐
sel.” United States v. England, 507 F.3d 581, 588 (7th Cir.
2007); see also, e.g., Volpentesta, 727 F.3d at 678 (finding that
defendant’s waiver “was a strategic decision he made so that
he could pursue the case as he desired”). Moreover, the dis‐
trict judge clearly informed Banks that, although she was
denying his sovereign‐citizen argument, he was free to ap‐
peal that ruling at the conclusion of the case.
Although Banks was not a legal practitioner, he noted
that he had been engaged in legal study while awaiting trial
and that he was familiar with the Federal Rules of Evidence
and Criminal Procedure. This alone may not demonstrate
that Banks “appreciated the gravity of his waiver.” Volpentes‐
ta, 727 F.3d at 677; see id. (concluding that the defendant’s
background supported a finding of waiver where he had
graduated from high school and had taken community col‐
lege classes, had been involved in three bench trials and a
bankruptcy in connection with his business, and had been a
defendant in an earlier criminal trial). However, all four fac‐
tors, taken together, clearly demonstrate that Banks’s waiver
was both knowing and voluntary—a finding that Banks
himself supported by expressly confirming during the collo‐
quy that his “decision to proceed here without a lawyer
[was] entirely voluntary,” and that no one had “push[ed]”
him into his decision.
jurisdiction. The defense has ‘no conceivable validity in American law.’”
United States v. Jonassen, 759 F.3d 653, 657 n.2 (7th Cir. 2014) (quoting
United States v. Schneider, 910 F.2d 1569, 1570 (7th Cir. 1990)).
No. 14‐3461 9
Banks contends that the waiver inquiry was unnecessary,
since he did not “clearly and unequivocally” invoke his right
to self‐representation to begin with, but instead merely con‐
veyed his desire to fire his counsel. In support, Banks points
to the following discussion at the outset of his colloquy with
the district judge:
THE DEFENDANT: Objection, your Honor. I am here. I
am appearing in propria persona today.
THE COURT: All right. And that means you want to
represent yourself.
THE DEFENDANT: No. I am here in propria persona.
* * * *
THE COURT: Are you representing yourself?
THE DEFENDANT: No.
THE COURT: Who is representing you?
THE DEFENDANT: My status is sui juris. I’m here in
propria persona today.
But when viewed in context of the remainder of the col‐
loquy, however, it’s clear that Banks was preoccupied with
making his sovereign‐citizen defense known to the court; he
was not asking that replacement counsel be appointed. For
example, the district court began asking questions relating to
knowledge and voluntariness immediately after the ex‐
change below:
THE COURT: All right. Well, I will tell you what. I un‐
derstand that you are relieving Mr. Brindley and his of‐
fice from representing you. I am going to ask that they
remain here as standby counsel. But you are certainly
free under the Constitution to proceed on your own.
THE DEFENDANT: Exactly. That’s what I so choose, your
Honor.
10 No. 14‐3461
(emphasis added). So the district court correctly understood
Banks was waiving his right to counsel.
2. No Error in Not Rescinding Waiver During Trial
Banks argues that his refusal to participate in the trial
proceedings should have prompted the district court to re‐
scind his waiver. But Banks was not completely unwilling to
participate—he attempted to make opening and closing
statements. And his unwillingness to focus on facts during
those arguments, coupled with his general inaction, under‐
scores his strategy of pressing his sovereign‐citizen view‐
point. The fact that that strategy was unwise, without more,
is irrelevant. See, e.g., United States v. Berry, 565 F.3d 385, 391
(7th Cir. 2009) (“[T]he right to self‐representation cannot be
denied merely because a defendant lacks legal knowledge or
otherwise makes for a poor advocate.”).
Nor did Banks engage in the sort of obstructionist behav‐
ior that warranted waiver rescission in United States v. Brock,
159 F.3d 1077 (7th Cir. 1998), and United States v. Brown, 791
F.2d 577 (7th Cir. 1986). Although Banks’s refusal to partici‐
pate in the proceedings, repeated challenges to the court’s
jurisdiction, and repeated requests to be removed from the
courtroom may have delayed the proceedings and tested the
patience of the district court and the government, they in no
way “made it practically impossible [for the trial] to pro‐
ceed.” Brock, 159 F.3d at 1080–81 (observing that defendant
“refused to cooperate, even minimally, with the court,” even
after several contempt citations). More importantly, even if
Banks’s actions did warrant rescission—and they did not—
the district judge was not obligated to rescind. See Berry, 565
F.3d at 391 (“The Constitution may have allowed the trial
judge to block his request to go it alone, but it certainly
No. 14‐3461 11
didn’t require it.”); accord United States v. Anzaldi, 800 F.3d
872, 879 (7th Cir. 2015); United States v. Jonassen, 759 F.3d 653,
661 n.4 (7th Cir. 2014).
Banks’s reliance on Cain v. Peters, 972 F.2d 748 (7th Cir.
1992), is misplaced. As Banks notes, we observed in Cain that
“defendants forfeit self‐representation by remaining silent at
critical junctures before or during trial.” Id. at 750. What
Banks ignores, however, is the fact that Cain involved a de‐
fendant who acquiesced to representation by counsel by stay‐
ing silent throughout the proceedings. In doing so, he effec‐
tively forfeited any right to argue later on that he was denied
his right to represent himself. This aspect of Cain does not
apply to defendants who proceed pro se but decide for stra‐
tegic reasons to remain silent.
3. Banks’s Other Arguments Are Meritless
Banks attacks the district court’s waiver decision on sev‐
eral other grounds, all of which lack merit. First, he suggests
that the court should have rejected his waiver as untimely.
But the request was timely, since it was made before the jury
was empaneled. United States v. Johnson, 223 F.3d 665, 668
(7th Cir. 2000). And even if the request was untimely, Banks
does not claim that the court was required to reject it. Nor
could he. See United States v. Oakey, 853 F.2d 551, 553 (7th
Cir. 1988) (concluding that “where a request to proceed pro
se is untimely, a court may, in its discretion, deny the motion”
(emphasis added)); cf. United States v. Kosmel, 272 F.3d 501,
506 (7th Cir. 2001) (observing that a district court “has broad
discretion in granting mid‐trial requests to proceed pro se”).
Banks also contends that the trial itself somehow violated
his due process rights because the government was not
12 No. 14‐3461
forced to present its case subject to an adversarial process
(because of Banks’s nonparticipation). But poor self‐
representation alone does not amount to a due process viola‐
tion. United States v. Egwaoje, 335 F.3d 579, 587 (7th Cir. 2003)
(rejecting claim that pro se defendant’s “readily apparent de‐
ficiency in performance at trial offends not only the defend‐
ant’s rights but also undermines public confidence in the in‐
tegrity of judicial proceedings”); cf. Faretta, 422 U.S. at 834
n.46 (“[A] defendant who elects to represent himself cannot
thereafter complain that the quality of his own defense
amounted to a denial of ‘effective assistance of counsel.’”).
Lastly, Banks argues that the district court erred in failing
to acknowledge her authority to reject his pro se request.
However, Banks has not cited any case law (and we are not
aware of any) that requires a judge to expressly reference this
authority. Nor does the record suggest that the district court
misunderstood her authority; indeed, had she believed she
was obligated to approve Banks’s pro se request, both the
lengthy colloquy and her ultimate knowledge/voluntariness
finding would have been unnecessary. In sum, the court cor‐
rectly permitted Banks to represent himself during the trial.
B. No Procedural Errors During Banks’s Sentencing
Banks argues that the district court procedurally erred in
determining and explaining his 432‐month sentence. Specifi‐
cally, he claims that the court failed to address three of his
principal mitigation arguments, failed to adequately explain
his sentence, and treated the Guidelines as mandatory.
We review de novo whether a district court has commit‐
ted procedural error during sentencing. United States v. Mar‐
in‐Castano, 688 F.3d 899, 902 (7th Cir. 2012). Procedural error
No. 14‐3461 13
occurs when a court “fail[s] to calculate (or improperly cal‐
culate[s]) the Guidelines range, treat[s] the Guidelines as
mandatory, fail[s] to consider the § 3553(a) factors, select[s] a
sentence based on clearly erroneous facts, or fail[s] to ade‐
quately explain the chosen sentence.” Gall v. United States,
552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). District courts must also “consider a
defendant’s principal, nonfrivolous arguments for lenience.”
United States v. Martin, 718 F.3d 684, 687 (7th Cir. 2013) (per
curiam). In considering such arguments, the judge must
demonstrate that she “has considered the parties’ arguments
and has a reasoned basis for exercising [her] own legal deci‐
sionmaking authority.” Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. 338, 356
(2007). A brief explanation is often acceptable “where the
context and record make clear the reasoning underlying the
district court’s conclusion.” United States v. Schroeder, 536
F.3d 746, 755 (7th Cir. 2008). We typically will not find a sen‐
tence to be procedurally unreasonable so long as the record
demonstrates that the court meaningfully considered the de‐
fendant’s arguments, “even if implicitly and imprecisely.”
United States v. Diekemper, 604 F.3d 345, 355 (7th Cir. 2010).
1. Sentence Adequately Explained
Banks argues that the district court failed to explain why
the 432‐month sentence was necessary. While Banks con‐
cedes that the court explicitly referenced a need to protect
society and help Banks “recognize, in a realistic way, who he
is,” he suggests that the 180‐month sentence he proposed
may well have satisfied these objectives. We find, however,
that although the district court may not have discussed the
§ 3553(a) factors in a checklist fashion—which it was not re‐
quired to do, United States v. Perez, 581 F.3d 539, 548 (7th Cir.
14 No. 14‐3461
2009)—the court provided an adequate statement of its rea‐
sons at the sentencing hearing.
In concluding that a “very substantial” sentence was re‐
quired, the district court emphasized that Banks had en‐
gaged in “extremely costly, menacing, dangerous activity.”
She discussed the violent nature with which Banks wielded
his weapon, as well as the emotional and financial trauma
that his victims suffered in the wake of his robberies. The
court also referenced Banks’s personal history and character‐
istics—in particular, his refusal to accept full responsibility
for his crimes, his artistic talents, and his troubled upbring‐
ing. And the court touched upon the available alternative
sentences, as she compared the government’s proposed 45‐
year sentence and Banks’s own suggested sentence against
the retributivist and public‐safety reasons that, in the court’s
mind, warranted a “significant” sentence. In sum, the district
court’s analysis reflects “an individualized assessment based
on the facts presented” that allows for “meaningful appellate
review and … promote[s] the perception of fair sentencing.”
Gall, 552 U.S. at 50.
2. Mitigation Arguments Addressed
Banks also argues that during his sentencing hearing, the
district court failed to address three of his principal mitiga‐
tion arguments: (1) that the “unusually harsh” confinement
conditions he had endured following his escape would likely
continue post‐sentencing; (2) that his criminal‐history cate‐
gory overstated his prior criminal conduct; and (3) that his
conviction was based on evidence that was never “meaning‐
fully tested,” due to his poor self‐representation. While the
court’s response to these arguments was indirect and brief, it
was not so deficient as to constitute procedural error.
No. 14‐3461 15
The district court adequately addressed Banks’s argu‐
ment regarding confinement conditions. The court began by
acknowledging that it “may very well be true” that prison
officials “overreacted” to Banks’s escape with the confine‐
ment conditions they imposed on him. She then observed
that “trying to thwart even the simple efforts to maintain se‐
curity in a federal correctional facility is really a step too
far,” and explicitly referenced the balance between “the
harm that’s been done to the victims” with “the harm that
we are now going to do to the defendant in return.”
The district court also adequately addressed Banks’s ar‐
gument that his criminal‐history category overstated his ear‐
lier unlawful actions. The court found Banks’s description of
himself as “anti‐gun” untenable, since he had used a gun,
often violently, in all four of his robberies. She also rejected
the notion that Banks was a “peacemaker,” noting that he
“made havoc in this case” and “created very serious terror
and disturbance in several banks and for several victims.”
And she described Banks’s robberies as “the conduct of a vi‐
olent man,” described him generally as “a threat and a men‐
ace to anybody who might work in a bank,” and discussed
his escape “as part of a larger pattern of [his] rejection of the
system.”
In addition, the district court indirectly addressed
Banks’s argument regarding his poor self‐representation, in‐
sofar as she criticized him for “reject[ing] the services of
lawyers … who prepared amply for his defense, [and] who,
throughout the trial, day after day … stepped into the court‐
room.” She also noted that these attorneys “begged” her at
closing argument to “allow them to make a closing for
[Banks], because they saw an opportunity for a defense.”
16 No. 14‐3461
Critically, the court disparaged Banks for “cho[osing] to
adopt the sovereign citizen defense, which he confesses now
was an act.” When viewing these statements in the aggre‐
gate, it’s clear that the district court found Banks to be unde‐
serving of any sympathy for deciding to proceed pro se
throughout the trial.
3. Guidelines Not Treated as Mandatory
Finally, Banks contends that the district court treated the
Guidelines as mandatory, based on a brief colloquy between
the court and a probation officer at the hearing. After an‐
nouncing the 432‐month sentence, the district court noted
that the sentence on each of the four counts would run con‐
currently. But doing so would not have resulted in the an‐
nounced sentence, since none of the counts carried a maxi‐
mum that exceeded 240 months. The probation officer called
the court’s attention to this error, prompting the court to
clarify that Counts I and II would be served consecutively to
Counts III and IV.
This clarification was consistent with the Guidelines. See,
e.g., United States v. Craig, 703 F.3d 1001, 1002 (7th Cir. 2012)
(per curiam) (explaining that U.S.S.G. § 5G1.2(d) “tell[s] the
judge to sentence consecutively when necessary to bring the
total sentence into the guidelines range”). But that, by itself,
does not demonstrate that the district court considered her‐
self to be bound by the Guidelines. We have explained that
when the Supreme Court declared the Guidelines to be advi‐
sory, “it expected that many (perhaps most) sentences
would continue to reflect the results obtained through an
application of the Guidelines.” United States v. Mykytiuk, 415
F.3d 606, 607 (7th Cir. 2005). Banks also ignores several facts
that indicate the court believed herself to be unbound—she
No. 14‐3461 17
entertained Banks’s argument for a below‐Guidelines sen‐
tence and imposed the 432‐month sentence before discussing
whether and to what extent the counts would run concur‐
rently or consecutively. So Banks has failed to establish that
the district court committed any procedural errors.
III. CONCLUSION
We AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.