State v. Langley, 273 P.3d 901

Langley was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death for Anne Gray's death; prior appeals vacated/remanded death sentences for penalty-phase errors.
This is Langley's third automatic/direct review of the death sentence following remands for proper mitigating-evidence instruction (Langley I) and for ex post facto-related sentencing options (Langley II).
From 2001 to 2005, the defense team underwent multiple substitutions; by 2005 Smith and McCabe sought to withdraw, with Bergland later added as third-chair.
The trial court granted McCabe's withdrawal, denied Smith's withdrawal, and then offered Langley a choice: accept Smith and Bergland as counsel or proceed pro se (with or without advisory counsel).
Langley declined to choose among offered options; the court treated that as manipulation and forced pro se representation, and Bergland served as advisory counsel.
The court later vacated the death sentence, holding the coercive procedure to compel self-representation violated Langley's right to counsel.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether forcing pro se without a knowing waiver violated Langley's right to counsel	State contends court acted within discretion given conflict and disruption	Langley maintained right to counsel and did not knowingly waive it	Court erred; forced self-representation violated right to counsel
Whether Langley waived counsel by conduct	Totality of conduct showed waiver via misconduct/manipulation	No valid, knowing, intentional conduct waiver; conduct alone insufficient	Waiver by conduct not established; no valid waiver
Whether the court could replace counsel given conflicts and delay goals	Affidavits showed genuine conflicts justify substitution	Misconduct by defendant drove delays; improper coercion to self-represent	Court erred in treating conduct as waiver and in coercive choice
Whether the error was harmless or required reversal	Procedural issues did not impact substantial rights	Constitutional rights violated; irreparable impact on penalty-phase	Not harmless; death sentence vacated and remanded

State v. Meyrick, 313 Or. 125 (1992) (waiver of counsel must be knowing and intentional)
Gonzalez-Lopez, 548 U.S. 140 (2006) (right to counsel of choice does not extend to appointed counsel)
Langley I, 314 Or. 247 (1992) (vacated death sentence for improper mitigating-evidence instruction)
Langley II, 331 Or. 430 (2000) (remanded for true-life option/waiver issues)
State v. Davis, 345 Or. 551 (2008) (standard for evaluating a motion to withdraw as counsel)
State v. Krummacher v. Gierloff, 290 Or. 867 (1981) (right to counsel and adequacy standards)