State v. Beals
State v. Beals
Opinion of the Court
A threshold question which we must consider before reaching the issues on the merits as they are raised concerning both lineups is whether this court has jurisdiction to review both the order suppressing the third lineup, and the order denying the suppression of the second lineup. The state has appealed from that part of the circuit court’s order which suppresses the third lineup, taking this appeal pursuant to sec. 974.05 (1) (d) 2, Stats. That section provides that the state may appeal from any order or judgment the substantive effect of
Following the state’s notice of appeal, defendant filed both a cross appeal and a notice of review, requesting this court to review that part of the December 10th order of the circuit court refusing to suppress the second lineup. The state argues that because appeal is a statutory right, this court should not review the second lineup.
Appeal is strictly a statutory right.
“A respondent adverse to the appellant upon the latter’s appeal may have a review of any rulings prejudicial to him by serving upon the appellant at any time before the case is set for hearing in the supreme court a notice stating in what respect he asks for a reversal or modification of the judgment or order or portion thereof appealed from.”
Defendant here has served such a notice. As sec. 974.08 provides that criminal appeals by either party are to proceed in the same manner as civil appeals, sec. 274.12 applies to both civil and criminal cases.
The purpose of sec. 274.12, Stats., is to prevent successive appeals and to require all appeals from the same judgment or order to be taken speedily.
The present notice of review or cross appeal does raise a unique problem in that respondent’s appeal could not be maintained independently of the state’s appeal. This issue was faced squarely by an intermediate appellate court in Florida.
“CTlhe appellee in this case would not have the right to maintain a separate and distinct appeal from the order denying his motion to quash the information. This is for the reason that appeals from interlocutory orders entered in criminal cases may not be the subject of an interlocutory appeal unless specifically authorized by statute or rule of the Supreme Court. He does, however, have the right to maintain his cross-appeal in this case since it relates to the same order from which the State’s appeal is taken.”6
This rule was subsequently cited with approval by the Florida Supreme Court.
In the present case separate rulings were made regarding both lineups. They were all contained in the same order of the circuit court. The proceedings in that court were totally interwoven. While see. 274.12 (1), Stats., may not specifically cover an appeal to this court from the portion of an order not otherwise appealed from, all the rulings regarding the lineups were in the same order and the policy behind the cross-appeal statute and the equities of allowing the entire matter to be resolved at
Defendant’s right to adequate legal representation at the lineup.
As to the appeals taken on the order concerning the lineups, a single issue is dispositive and that is whether the defendant was adequately represented by legal counsel at the second and third lineups.
In United States v. Wade
The presence of counsel, if necessary, is such presence of counsel at the actual confrontation between the individuals in the lineup and the witness or witnesses. This was made clear in Stovall v. Denno,
*608 “Wade and Gilbert fashion exclusionary rules to deter law enforcement authorities from exhibiting an accused to witnesses before trial for identification purposes without notice to and in the absence of counsel. A conviction which rests on a mistaken identification is a gross miscarriage of justice. The Wade and Gilbert rules are aimed at minimizing that possibility by preventing the unfairness at pretrial confrontation that experience has proved can occur and assuring meaningful examination of the identification witness’ testimony at trial.” (Emphasis added.)13
Consistent with the interpretation that legal counsel is required at the time of actual confrontation is what we said in Wright:
. . The presence of an attorney at the linewp, whether or not such attorney eventually represents the defendant at the time of trial, is all that is required to aid in reconstructing the circumstances of the lineup at the time of trial. In fact, the limited purpose served by the presence of counsel at the time of the lineup has led to a holding that the fact that the attorney present at the lineup did not represent the defendant on the charge for which the lineup was conducted did not prejudice the defendant . . . .” (Emphasis added.)
Although Attorney Lazarra was neither retained by defendant nor appointed by a court to represent defendant, his presence at the police station was in accordance with a contract between Dane county and the legal services agency. In Wright this court said that the presence of any attorney at the lineup was all that was required, regardless of whether the attorney represented the suspect at trial or not.
Whether Attorney Lazarra’s conduct constituted legal representation of the defendant at the lineups is a question of constitutional fact reviewable de novo by this court.
A criminal defendant’s right to legal assistance is one of the most basic and important rights which is accorded by our criminal justice system. The most obvious and important function of legal counsel is to assist the suspect in preparing a defense. The right to counsel is guaranteed by art. I, sec. 7, of the Wisconsin Constitution. This constitutional provision was effectuated by enabling legislation in the late 1850’s,
“. . . Even the intelligent and educated layman has small and sometimes no skill in the science of law. If charged with crime, he is incapable, generally, of determining for himself whether the indictment is good or bad. He is unfamiliar with the rules of evidence. Left without the aid of counsel he may be put on trial without a proper charge, and convicted upon incompetent evidence, or evidence irrelevant to the issue or otherwise inadmissible. He lacks both the skill and knowledge adequately to prepare his defense, even though he have a perfect one. He requires the guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings against him. Without it, though he be not guilty, he faces the danger of conviction because he does not know how to establish his innocence. If that be true of men of intelligence, how much more true is it of the ignorant and illiterate, or those of feeble intellect.”22
Not until more than three decades after Powell was the right to counsel expanded and clarified. In Gideon v. Wainwright
The principle that an attorney can be of great assistance to a criminal defendant in preparing a defense has been expanded to include the proposition that the attorney can assist his client by observing what occurs after the suspect has been taken into custody. In Miranda,
The role of counsel as an observer was again emphasized, as we have noted above, in the Wade
The final duty of an attorney in criminal proceedings is to assist the law enforcement officers and to guard against practices which make these proceedings unfair. Attorney Lazarra, in leaving the station, deprived the defendant of a legal adviser and also deprived him and the general public of the benefit of having someone independent to observe the proceedings.
The attorney general argues that Attorney Lazarra’s leaving the scene of the lineup was a deliberate strategy which constituted a waiver of defendant’s right to counsel
The second distinguishing aspect of the present case is that this asserted waiver on this record definitely was not part of a deliberate trial strategy. It must be considered a single act “on behalf” of defendant. Throughout the time of the two lineups viewed by witnesses, defendant requested to see counsel. Attorney Lazarra departed without consulting defendant about it and it is clear that the defendant did not desire him to go. On the question of waiver this court stated in State v. McDonald
The attorney general argues that to hold there was no waiver “would leave law enforcement vulnerable to the whims of defense attorneys who would be able to thwart identification procedures by leaving.” As noted above, Attorney Lazarra’s conduct was improper — he should not have left. An attorney who wilfully attempts to impede justice by leaving a lineup violates his oath as an attorney. Such conduct subjects him to discipline as would any activity violating the attorney’s oath.
Here then, because no legal counsel was present as required at the time of actual confrontation between wit
Because of our holding on the issue of the requirement of counsel at the second and third lineups we do not reach the issue of the unfairness of either of these lineups.
The protective order.
As to the appeal taken from the protective order, we conclude
The statute which permits appeal by the state provides:
“974.05 State’s appeal. (1) A writ of error or appeal may be taken by the state from any:
“ (a) Final order or judgment adverse to the state made before jeopardy has attached or after waiver thereof.
“ (b) Order granting a new trial.
“(c) Judgment and sentence or order of probation not authorized by law.
“(d) Order or judgment the substantive effect of which results in:
“1. Quashing an arrest warrant;
“2. Suppressing evidence; or
“3. Suppressing a confession or admission.
“(e) Judgment adverse to the state, upon questions of law arising upon the trial, in the same manner and with the same effect as if taken by the defendant.”
The order appealed from grants no new trial, concerns no probation, arrest warrant, or the suppression of evidence, of a confession, or of an admission. The order had the effect of allowing testimony into evidence which otherwise would have been privileged — the statute provides for no such pretrial appeal.
By the Court. — That part of the order suppressing the third lineup is affirmed; that part of the order denying suppression of the second lineup is reversed. The appeal from the protective order is dismissed. The cause is remanded with directions to exclude all identifications made by witnesses who were at the second and third lineups unless the in-court identifications are based upon observations of the suspect other than the lineup identifications.
State v. McNitt (1943), 244 Wis. 1, 4, 11 N. W. 2d 671.
Crossman v. Gipp (1962), 17 Wis. 2d 54, 61, 115 N. W. 2d 547; Turk v. H. C. Frange Co. (1963), 18 Wis. 2d 547, 563, 119 N. W. 2d 365; see also: 4 Am. Jur. 2d, Appeal & Error, p. 688, sec. 177.
Plesko v. Milwaukee (1963), 19 Wis. 2d 210, 221, 120 N. W. 2d 130.
State v. McInnes (Fla. App. 1961), 133 So. 2d 581.
24 Florida Stats. Annot. (1944), sec. 924.07.
State v. McInnes, supra, footnote 4, at page 583.
State v. McKinney (Fla. Sup. Ct. 1968), 212 So. 2d 761.
(1967), 388 U. S. 218, 87 Sup. Ct. 1926, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1149.
(1967), 388 U. S. 263, 87 Sup. Ct. 1951, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1178.
(1970), 46 Wis. 2d 75, 175 N. W. 2d 646.
(1970), 46 Wis. 2d 93,175 N. W. 2d 625.
(1967), 388 U. S. 293, 87 Sup. Ct. 1967, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1199.
Id. at page 297.
Wright v. State, supra, footnote 10, at page 85.
/d.
State v. Carter (1966), 33 Wis. 2d 80, 89, 90, 146 N. W. 2d 466.
Revised Stats. 1858, eh. 163, sec. 2.
See: Annot. (1941), 130 A. L. R. 1439,1450.
Carpenter v. Dane County (1859), 9 Wis. 249 (*274).
The sixth amendment’s guarantee of the right to legal counsel is made applicable to the states by the fourteenth amendment.
(1932), 287 U. S. 45, 53 Sup. Ct. 55, 77 L. Ed. 158.
Id. at page 69.
(1963), 372 U. S. 335, 83 Sup. Ct. 792, 9 L. Ed. 2d 799.
Douglas v. California (1963), 372 U. S. 353, 83 Sup. Ct. 814, 9 L. Ed. 2d 811.
In re Gault (1967), 387 U. S. 1, 87 Sup. Ct. 1428, 18 L. Ed. 2d 627.
State ex rel. La Follette v. Circuit Court (1967), 37 Wis. 2d 329, 155 N. W. 2d 141.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U. S. 436, 86 Sup. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694.
Supra, footnote 8.
Supra, footnote 9.
Supra, footnote 10, at page 84.
Henry v. Mississippi (1965), 379 U. S. 443, 85 Sup. Ct. 564, 13 L. Ed. 2d 408; State v. Strickland (1965), 27 Wis. 2d 623, 135 N. W. 2d 295; State ex rel. Goodchild v. Burke (1965), 27 Wis. 2d 244, 133 N. W. 2d 753; State v. McDonald (1971), 50 Wis. 2d 534, 184 N. W. 2d 886.
Comment, Criminal Waiver, 54 Cal. L. Rev. (1966), 1262, 1277.
Supra, footnote 31.
Cf. Kennedy v. United States (5th Cir. 1958), 259 Fed. 2d 883, 885; Tompsett v. Ohio (6th Cir. 1944), 146 Fed. 2d 95, 98, certiorari denied, 324 U. S. 869, 65 Sup. Ct. 916, 89 L. Ed. 1424.
(1938), 304 U. S. 458, 464, 58 Sup. Ct. 1019, 82 L. Ed. 1461.
(1963), 372 U. S. 391, 439, 83 Sup. Ct. 822, 9 L. Ed. 2d 837.
See generally, Attorney’s Trial Waiver, at 54 Cal. L. Rev. 1272; see footnote 32, supra.
Cf. Cincinnati Bar Asso. v. Leggett (1964), 176 Ohio St. 281, 199 N. E. 2d 590; In re Carroll (10th Cir. 1969), 416 Fed. 2d 585, certiorari denied sub norm. Carroll v. District Court (1970), 396 U. S. 1011, 90 Sup. Ct. 570, 24 L. Ed. 2d 503; In re Cooper (1971), 95 Cal. Rptr. 646, 486 Pac. 2d 174.
Estate of Hillery (1970), 46 Wis. 2d 689, 694, 176 N. W. 2d 376, and cases cited at note 1.
Id. at note 2.
Cf. Income Tax Cases (1912), 148 Wis. 456, 134 N. W. 673, 135 N. W. 164, and cases cited therein; see also: Schwarzbauer v. Menasha (1966), 33 Wis. 2d 61, 146 N. W. 2d 402, and cases cited therein.
Dissenting Opinion
{dissenting). At about ten o’clock on an August evening, an armed robbery and killing took place in the city of Madison.
Later that evening, the Madison police placed in custody the defendant and two companions, suspected but not charged with having committed the robbery and homicide.
Also at the police headquarters were 18 persons who were witnesses to the holdup and homicide.
Around the midnight hour, the police set out to arrange a viewing of the suspects by the witnesses to determine
Both the difficulty of reassembling the 18 eyewitnesses at a future date and the importance of freshness of recollection made an undelayed opportunity to identify reasonable.
The Dane county district attorney contacted Legal Services and that agency agreed to provide an attorney for the other two suspects at a lineup-type identification.
The attorney, provided by Legal Services under a contractual relationship with the county, arrived, spoke to the defendant and it was agreed between them that the attorney would represent the defendant until other arrangements for trial counsel were made.
The police arranged for three prisoners in the county jail, all of them black as were the three suspects, to appear in a lineup with the three men suspected of committing the crimes.
To enable the defendant’s attorney and district attorney to preview the lineup, the police conducted a full dress rehearsal or “practice” lineup.
The defendant’s attorney objected to the six persons wearing suit coats, stating that the borrowed suit coats worn by the nonsuspects were ill-fitting. The suit coats were removed from the six for the first lineup.
The defendant’s attorney also objected to variances in height, weight and hair styles among the six persons in the lineup. He also objected to the ratio of suspects to nonsuspects — three each. There is no showing or claim that other nonsuspects of the race, height and weight demanded were available at the postmidnight hour.
With all of his demands not being met, the defendant’s attorney stated that he thought he should leave and not further participate in the lineup.
The district attorney stated, “Phil, you have made your position clear. You have stated your position. Your objections have been noted. I want you to stay. . .
At 1:20 a. m., the first lineup was conducted, exactly as it had been conducted at the rehearsal or “practice” run.
At the hearing on admissibility of the first lineup, the district attorney testified: “I think he left because he [defendant’s attorney] thought he could invalidate the lineup if he did.”
If defendant’s attorney so thought then, he has no reason to change his mind now, for the majority opinion holds that the walkout by defendant’s attorney prevented the holding of a constitutionally valid lineup identification.
The writer would hold that the deliberate defense stratagem or device of leaving the scene, after determining and observing the exact nature and composition of the lineup procedure to be followed, was an act or tactic binding upon his client, and constituted a waiver of counsel’s right to remain.
The role of a defendant’s counsel at a lineup identification is that of an observer.
Here the defendant’s attorney went beyond the role of observer to do three things: (1) To demand that changes be made in the composition of the lineup, one of which was made; (2) to threaten that, if the remaining de
Whether “running out the bluff” or carrying out the threat is viewed as a tactic to secure further concessions or to prevent the holding of the lineup or to plant a time bomb to be exploded on appeal, the majority opinion makes clear that the defendant’s attorney ought not to have done what he did.
Regardless of “oughtness,” the writer would hold that, when the defendant’s attorney did what he did, he, on behalf of his client, made “. . . a deliberate choice of strategy [which] even if it backfires, amounts to a waiver binding upon the defendant and this court. ...”
This is particularly true where the deliberate choice of strategy was made by defendant’s attorney after he had observed and established, to his own satisfaction, the factual basis for future objection to the composition of the lineup. Since no objection is even suggested except as to the composition of the lineup, the defendant’s attorney had already served as the “eyes” of the defendant
Actually, the majority opinion does not dispute or dissent from the general rule that a deliberate choice of strategy by defense counsel constitutes a waiver binding upon a defendant. Rather, it seeks to take the present situation out from under the general rule. Two reasons are advanced for not applying the rule in this case:
The first reason given for exceptionalizing this case is that the walkout of defendant’s attorney was a “single act ‘on behalf’ of defendant,” and “not part of a deliberate trial strategy.” To qualify as a tactic, an act or choice of alternative strategies, the majority states, must be “made as part of an overall trial plan.” Neither precedent nor sound reasoning support such added requirement. What makes an act or choice between alternative actions a “tactic” is its being made deliberately, after evaluation of the consequences of making the particular choice. Many of the major decisions in criminal
The second reason advanced for not applying the rule of strategic waiver to this case is the claim that there is here a “special relationship” between the defendant’s attorney and defendant. The reference is to the fact that the attorney representing the defendant at the time of the identification lineup was provided by Legal Services under its contractual arrangement with Dane county so to do. The majority opinion states that it is “doubtful” whether the relationship between defendant’s attorney and defendant “was sufficient to constitute an attorney-client relationship.” The record provides no basis for any such doubt. The record establishes that, when the attorney arranged for by Legal Services arrived at police headquarters, he spoke with the defendant and the other two suspects and it was agreed between them that the attorney would represent the defendant and the two others until other arrangements for trial counsel were made. Ordinarily, retaining an attorney involves and implies an obligation to pay for services performed. But it is the authorization to appear for the client that estab
The writer would hold that, when the defendant here agreed to have the Legal Services’ attorney represent him at the lineup, the attorney agreed to become his attorney and the relationship was that of attorney-client. If, as the majority opinion states, the attorney here was not “retained” by the defendant nor “appointed” by a court, a strange hybrid has been newly created. For the purpose of compliance with Wade, Gilbert
Holding that the deliberate choice of tactics or strategy by defendant’s attorney was binding upon the defendant and constituted here a waiver of the right to continued presence of such attorney at the first lineup, requires consideration of the objections raised by defendant to the fairness of such first lineup. The writer agrees with the trial court that the objections raised were without merit, and that such lineup was fairly conducted. On the claim that having three suspects and four nonsus-pects in a lineup is an impermissible ratio, it is enough to note that in Wright,
The second and third objections to the composition of the first lineup deal, respectively, with variances in hair styles and disparities in height. Both relate to the matter of similarity in appearance, and both are answered by the holding in Wright that: “. . . The police are not required to conduct a search for identical twins in age, height, weight or facial features. ...”
Upholding the trial court finding that the first lineup was fairly conducted and holding that the walkout of defendant’s attorney was a deliberate tactic or stratagem, binding upon the defendant, constituting a strategic waiver of the right to continued presence of such attorney at such lineup, the writer would affirm the trial court’s admitting of identifications made at the first lineup as properly admissible. While the question is closer, giving full weight to the trial court finding of
I am authorized to state that Mr. Justice Leo B. Hanley and Mr. Justice Connor T. Hansen join in this dissent.
See: Wright v. State (1970), 46 Wis. 2d 75, 84, 85, 175 N. W. 2d 646, stating: “. . . The presence of counsel at the lineup is intended to make possible the reconstruction at the time of trial of any unfairness that may have occurred at the time of the lineup. The important purpose to be served is that of observer. . . . His [counsel’s] function, as observer, was to assist the court in reconstructing the circumstances of the lineup at the time of trial. That is what he did, and that is all that he was required to do. . . .”
State v. McDonald (1971), 50 Wis. 2d 534, 537, 538, 184 N. W. 2d 886, this court also stating: “. . . If this was a strategic trial tactic of defense counsel, it was a conscious and intentional waiver of the constitutional questions involved.” Citing Henry v. Mississippi (1965), 379 U. S. 443, 85 Sup. Ct. 564, 13 L. Ed. 2d 408; Fay v. Noia (1963), 372 U. S. 391, 83 Sup. Ct. 822, 9 L. Ed. 2d 837.
Id. at pages 538, 539, this court stating: “. . . Not every trial tactic can be or must he the result of consultation between counsel and client. ... In the conduct of a criminal case, the trial court cannot satisfy both the client who proceeds pro se and counsel who disagrees. While the defendant should he consulted concerning pleas of guilty and the general defense of his case, he need not be consulted in every detail. The accused has no more right to control his attorney and the conduct of the trial than he has to dictate to his surgeon how to perform the operation.” If this is the law as to midtrial strategies, it is more aptly applied to a prewarrant lineup “. . . when, as always would be the case, there was no judge or magistrate present to rule on the propriety of . . . objection. . . .” Wright v. State, supra, at page 84.
See: Zamora v. Guam (9th Cir. 1968), 394 Fed. 2d 815, 816, the court stating: “We do not believe that Wade always requires the presence of a lawyer with certificate in hand in the given case. Underlying the Wade case is a philosophy that the lineup should not be exclusively a police function and that the defendant ought to have some protection at it and eyes there representing him. . . .” (quoted with approval in Wright v. State, supra, at page 85.)
United States v. Wade (1967), 388 U. S. 218, 87 Sup. Ct. 1926, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1149; Gilbert v. California (1967), 388 U. S. 263, 87 Sup. Ct. 1951, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1178.
Wright v. State, supra, at pages 86, 87.
Id. at page 86.
Id. at page 86.
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