Case Title: Fulks v. State

Citation: 255 Ind. 81, 262 N.E.2d 651

Docket Number: 569S114

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 1970-10-13T00:00:00Z

Document:
255 Ind. 81 (1970)
262 N.E.2d 651
FULKS
v.
STATE OF INDIANA.
No. 569S114.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed October 13, 1970.
*82 Robert A. Mucker, Richard T. Heide, of Lafayette, for appellant.
Theodore L. Sendak, Attorney General, William F. Thompson, Aaron T. Jahr, Deputies Attorney General, for appellee.
No petition for rehearing filed.
GIVAN, J.
Appellant was charged by affidavit with the crime of armed robbery. Trial by jury resulted in a verdict of guilty. Judgment was rendered by the court sentencing the appellant to ten years in the Indiana State Prison.
The evidence in this case discloses the following facts:
On the 11th day of April, 1968, one Jane E. Higgins was employed as a cashier at Cinema West Theater in West Lafayette, Indiana, operated by Fourth Avenue Corporation. At about 9:40 P.M. Miss Higgins had closed the box office at the theater and had counted most of the money when two men approached the box office with guns in their hands. One of the men, whom Miss Higgins identified as Cecil L. Fulks, the appellant in this case, stood directly in front of her and handed her a paper sack. Miss Higgins placed the theater money in the paper sack and handed it to the man identified as the appellant.
While the robbery was in progress one Steven Rosendahl, the theater manager, came out of his office and saw a man *83 whom he identified as the appellant and another man standing in front of the box office. Both men were holding guns. He identified the appellant as the one who received a paper bag full of money from Miss Higgins. Mr. Rosendahl was able to determine by a check of the beginning cash and of the tickets sold that $826.50 had been taken.
One Joseph Lee Kennon testified he was employed as a doorman at the theater; that he observed two men, one of whom he identified as the appellant, approach the box office with guns and obtain a paper bag containing money from Miss Higgins.
Following the appellant's arrest on a charge of armed robbery, he was taken to the Lafayette City Court for preliminary hearing. The Witness Kennon was present in the City Court at that time at the request of police officers who, after the hearing, asked Mr. Kennon if he saw anyone who looked familiar, to which he replied he did.
Appellant first claims error in that at the time of his arrest and interrogation he was not advised of his right to counsel, and that he was interrogated without counsel even though he had requested counsel to be present. It is true that under the authority of Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, no confession, inculpatory statement or exculpatory statements made by a defendant may be used against him unless he has first been advised of his constitutional right to counsel. However, in the case at bar the appellant denied participation in the crime charged and at no time confessed any participation in the crime, nor did he make any statements from which his participation in the crime could be implied. Although the record in this case indicates the appellant did not receive the constitutional warnings required in the Miranda case, he has failed to demonstrate to this Court that he was harmed in any way by this failure. This Court has previously held that in a situation of this kind the Miranda case is not applicable. *84 Nathaniel Jones v. State of Indiana (1970), 253 Ind. 480, 20 Ind. Dec. 262, 255 N.E.2d 219.
Appellant also argues that his constitutional rights were violated in that he was required to appear in City Court for preliminary hearing without the aid of counsel, even though he had requested counsel.
Much has been said, both by the Supreme Court of the United States and by the Supreme Court of Indiana, concerning the right to counsel at all stages of the proceedings against a criminal defendant. Miranda v. Ariz., supra; Powell v. Ala. (1932), 287 U.S. 45, 53 S. Ct. 55, 77 L. Ed. 158; Thomas v. State (1969), 251 Ind. 546, 16 Ind. Dec. 358, 242 N.E.2d 919; Shack v. State (1967), 249 Ind. 67, 11 Ind. Dec. 713, 231 N.E.2d 36; State v. Minton (1955), 234 Ind. 578, 130 N.E.2d 226. There can be no question that the right to counsel is a sacred constitutional right which must be protected at all times. However, the argument of appellant requires us to examine the mechanics of how the state must go about affording this constitutional right. Certainly, police officers who have arrested an accused have no authority to appoint counsel. They are required by law to take an accused before a magistrate with reasonable dispatch. Burns Ind. Stat., 1956 Repl., § 9-704a. Burns Ind. Stat., 1956 Repl., § 9-706 requires that the judge before whom an accused is taken for preliminary hearing give the accused an opportunity and time to employ counsel, if he so desires. There is no evidence in this record that the court did not comply with this section of the statute.
An examination of this record discloses that when the appellant first appeared in the circuit court he informed the circuit judge that he was making arrangements for employment of counsel to defend him and requested a continuance in order that he might be able to complete his employment arrangements. This continuance was granted by the court. On June 5, 1968, Richard T. Heide, who is also one of the counsel *85 for appellant in this appeal, entered his appearance on behalf of the appellant. Intervening motions were filed. Eventually, September 27, 1968, was set as arraignment date for the appellant. At that time he appeared by counsel, Richard T. Heide, and Mr. Heide requested leave to withdraw his appearance as counsel for the appellant, and the appellant requested counsel be appointed to defend him at public expense, then alleging that he was without funds to continue private employment. It was at this time the court granted his petition for appointment of counsel at public expense, and the court appointed Richard T. Heide, who had previously been privately employed by the defendant, to continue as his defense counsel at public expense.
From this record we fail to see any violation of the safeguard of representation of the appellant by counsel in view of the fact that it is a judicial function to determine whether counsel shall be appointed at public expense. It is most unrealistic to say that when an accused is first arrested and informs a police officers he would like to be represented by counsel that it would then be a denial of his constitutional rights to bring him before a magistrate for preliminary hearing or before a court having felony jurisdiction, unless he be accompanied by an attorney. If he is in fact indigent, he must enter the court room in order to obtain counsel. If, as in the appellant's case, he is able at that time to employ private counsel, he, of course, is free to do so prior to entering court. Certainly, the State cannot be required to furnish counsel before the appellant appears before the court having jurisdiction to provide the same. We hold the constitutional provision providing for counsel is fully complied with, if the court having jurisdiction responds immediately upon application of an accused and the proof of his indigency.
Appellant also claims that the preliminary hearing in the City Court was for all intents and purposes an unlawful lineup.
*86 The United States Supreme Court has held in the cases of United States v. Wade (1967), 388 U.S. 218, 87 S. Ct. 1926, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1149, and Gilbert v. Calif. (1967), 388 U.S. 263, 87 S. Ct. 1951, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1178, that evidence of identification obtained at a pre-trial lineup is not admissible, if the accused is not represented by counsel or if the lineup is unfair in that it tends to call attention to the acused in an undue manner. However, the cases written by the Supreme Court of the United States on this subject do not require a reversal of the case, if it is clearly demonstrated that notwithstanding irregularities in pre-trial lineup there is positive in-court identification of the accused, which identification in no way depends upon observations made of the accused during the improper lineup.
The court in Gilbert, discussing Wade, stated:
In the Wade case the court stated:
In the case at bar a hearing was had out of the presence of the jury which clearly established that Kennon was the only one of the three identifying witnesses who was in attendance at the preliminary hearing. Kennon was not coached or prompted by anyone. Appellant entered the court room with several others and was immediately recognized by Kennon. Kennon immediately left the court. He could not have been influenced by the court proceedings because he left before they began.
Kennon's in-court identification was based upon his observation of the appellant at the time of the robbery. It is further brought out that the other two identifying witnesses did not attend the pre-trial hearing, did not discuss the pre-trial hearing with Kennon and had no other comparison by which to identify the appellant in court other than their personal observations of him during the robbery. We, therefore, hold that the requirements set forth in Wade and Gilbert were fully covered by the trial court. There was no error in allowing Kennon to testify concerning the identification of the appellant. Certainly the other identifying witnesses had no connection whatsoever with the pre-trial identification of the appellant thus the admissibility of their testimony is not questioned under the Wade-Gilbert rule.
The trial court is, therefore, affirmed.
Hunter, C.J., and Arterburn, J., concur; DeBruler, J., dissents with opinion in which Jackson, J., concurs.
DEBRULER, J.
On the day following his arrest on a charge of armed robbery this appellant was taken before the Judge of the Lafayette City Court for a preliminary hearing. The Judge held a preliminary hearing although no verbatim *88 transcript of the proceedings in that court is in the record before us.
The evidence reveals that the appellant appeared at the preliminary hearing without counsel, after telling an investigating officer that he wanted the assistance of counsel before standing in a lineup or talking to anyone. This request was ignored by the officer.
The appellant contends that he had a right to the assistance of counsel at the preliminary hearing before the Lafayette City Court and that this right to counsel was violated in the proceedings before the city court. In my judgment, appellant is correct in both contentions. His right to counsel at a preliminary hearing in Indiana is afforded by statute, the Indiana Constitution (Art. 1, § 13), the common law of Indiana, and the 6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Our Indiana Constitution, adopted in 1851 has provided that each person charged with a crime has an absolute right to the assistance of counsel:
This provision of our constitution has been construed by this court to mean that a defendant in a criminal case has the absolute right to the assistance of counsel at every stage of the proceedings against him. Dearing v. State (1951), 229 Ind. 131, 95 N.E.2d 832; Winn v. State (1953), 232 Ind. 70, 111 N.E.2d 653. This court has never restricted the right to counsel to particular stages of the proceedings, but has always considered the right to attach at every stage. In my opinion this includes the preliminary hearing stage. This interpretation of our constitution is supported by the tenor and firmness of the opinions of this court dating back as far as 1854, in enforcing the right to counsel. (See the annotations to Art. 1, § 13, in Burns 1955 replacement volume 1). It is further supported by the fact that, as conceded by the majority, at *89 least since 1905 in Indiana a defendant in a criminal case has enjoyed the right to assistance of counsel at a preliminary hearing by virtue of Acts 1905, ch. 169, § 67, as last amended by Acts 1947, ch. 265, § 1, Burns Ind. Stat. Ann. § 9-706 which applies when the arrested person is first taken before a magistrate, and reads in part as follows:
On June 22, 1970, the Supreme Court of the United States decided the case of Coleman v. Alabama (1970), 399 U.S. 1, 90 S. Ct. 1999, 26 L. Ed. 2d 387, wherein it held that an Alabama preliminary hearing was a "critical stage" of a criminal prosecution and that the 6th Amendment right to counsel extended to such hearing.
The court, applying the test of U.S. v. Wade (1967), 388 U.S. 218, 87 S. Ct. 1926, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1149, determined that the absence of counsel at a preliminary hearing would "derogate from the accused's right to a fair trial". Justice Brennan stated the reasons for this determination as follows:
*90 The preliminary hearing in this state is essentially the same as the Alabama procedure, and therefore the preliminary hearing in Indiana is a "critical stage" of the proceeding under the reasoning of the Coleman Case, supra, and the 6th Amendment to the United States Constitution affords the right to counsel at our preliminary hearings.
In Indiana the duty of judges, justices and magistrates to hold preliminary hearings is imposed on them by various statutes. First, all trial courts having criminal jurisdiction must hold a preliminary hearing when an accused is brought there charged with a felony under a preliminary charge filed pursuant to Acts 1949, ch. 273, § 1, Burns Ind. Stat. Ann § 9-704 (a) which reads in part as follows:
Second, a preliminary hearing must also be held in a justice, magistrate, municipal or city court when an arrested person is brought there following his arrest for an offense which said court has no jurisdiction to try:
Third, a preliminary hearing must be held whenever a city police officer arrests a person and brings him before a city court or other court having jurisdiction of the offense charged:
Fourth, a police officer serving as a member of a consolidated city police force of a consolidated city created under the "Consolidated First Class Cities and Counties Act", Acts 1969, ch. 173, § 1216, being Burns Ind. Stat. Ann. § 48-9416, must take arrested persons to court for preliminary hearings:
Although these several statutes in describing the duty of a trial court when holding a preliminary hearing use varying terminology and although the order of such trial court after such hearing may vary slightly as in the cases of a commitment for 7 days under Burns 9-704(a), supra, the issues for decision by the court are the same, namely, whether there is sufficient evidence that a crime has been committed and that the accused standing before the court committed it. In this regard the issues presented in our State court preliminary hearings are the same as those presented in a preliminary hearing before a federal magistrate provided for by Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.[1] See also the variation on this rule in Rule 6, of the proposed Uniform Rules of Criminal Procedure;[2] the ABA approved draft of Standards relating to Pretrial release.[3]
Since the right to counsel at a preliminary hearing in Indiana is granted by both the state and federal constitutions, it follows that if the defendant in a criminal case has no funds to employ counsel, he is entitled to the assistance of counsel at public expense. Griffin v. Illinois 351 U.S. 12, 76 S. Ct. 585, 55 ALR 2d 1055, 100 L. Ed. 891. It is the duty of Indiana courts to enforce this right. The right of indigent *93 defendants in criminal cases to counsel at public expense has been vigilantly enforced by Indiana Courts for over a century and has afforded a model for other jurisdictions desiring to adopt this enlightened approach to securing justice in the courts for persons regardless of their economic status. In 1854 this court had occasion to state the basis upon which the duty to provide counsel for indigents at public expense rests, in the case of Webb, Auditor v. Baird (1854) 6 Ind. 13:
The appellant here had the right to counsel at his preliminary hearing before the judge of the Lafayette City Court and it was the duty of the judge of that court to advise the appellant before the start of the hearing that he had a right to have counsel present and to advise him that he had a right to have counsel appointed to represent him at public expense if he was without funds, and to hold a hearing on the issue of the appellant's indigence if necessary. If a defendant is found to be without funds to employ counsel for the preliminary hearing and does not waive the right to counsel, he is entitled to be represented by counsel at public expense. It is not disputed in this record that a preliminary hearing was held and that the appellant was not represented by counsel at the hearing. The record does not show a waiver of counsel in the Lafayette City Court and none can therefore be presumed. Johnson v. Zerbst (1938), 304 U.S. 458, 58 S. Ct. 1019, 82 L. Ed. 1461.
I would remand this case to the Tippecanoe Circuit Court and require the trial judge to hold a hearing and to determine whether or not any disadvantage resulting from the absence *94 of counsel at the preliminary hearing caused any unfairness to appellant at the trial.
Jackson, J., concurs.
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 5
NOTE.  Reported in 262 N.E.2d 651.
[1]  See Appendix
[2]  See Appendix
[3]  See Appendix