Moore v. People, 2014 CO 8

Summary

The Colorado Supreme Court held that a defendant's challenge to the knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver of the constitutional right to testify is not reviewable on direct appeal and must instead be raised in a post-conviction proceeding. The court also held that a contemporaneous objection to the trial court's Curtis advisement is not required and that plain-error review does not apply. It vacated the court of appeals' discussion and ruling on the waiver issue while otherwise upholding the judgment of conviction.

Holdings

1. A defendant's challenge to whether the waiver of the right to testify was knowing, voluntary, and intelligent is not reviewable on direct appeal; it may be raised only in a post-conviction proceeding.
2. A defendant is not required to contemporaneously object to the trial court's Curtis advisement, and plain-error review premised on the absence of such an objection does not apply.
3. In a post-conviction proceeding, the essential inquiry is whether the defendant's waiver of the right to testify was knowing, voluntary, and intelligent; the adequacy or inadequacy of the Curtis advisement is not dispositive.
4. Trial courts should continue to advise defendants of the five Curtis elements concerning the right to testify and the consequences of testifying or not testifying, but no precise wording or formula controls the ultimate validity of the waiver.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court of appeals erred by considering on direct appeal Moore's challenge to the validity of his waiver of the right to testify.
2. Whether a defendant must make a contemporaneous objection to the trial court's Curtis advisement to preserve a challenge to the waiver of the right to testify.
3. What procedures and burdens govern a post-conviction challenge to the validity of a waiver of the right to testify.

Disposition

other