Case Title: State v. Dalrymple

Citation: 407 P.2d 356, 75 N.M. 514

Docket Number: 

State: new-mexico

Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

Date: 1965-11-01T00:00:00Z

Document:
407 P.2d 356 (1965) 75 N.M. 514 STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Floyd Earl DALRYMPLE, Defendant-Appellant. No. 7857. Supreme Court of New Mexico. November 1, 1965. Hinkle, Bondurant & Christy, Michael R. Waller, Roswell, for appellant. Boston E. Witt, Atty. Gen., Oliver E. Payne, Deputy Atty. Gen., Roy G. Hill, Frank Bachicha, Jr., Asst. Attys. Gen., Santa Fe, for appellee. MOISE, Justice. On November 27, 1964, appellant pleaded guilty to one count of robbery contrary to § 40A-16-2, N.M.S.A. 1953. On the same date, an information was filed charging him with being a habitual offender in that he had been convicted in 1958, 1960 and 1963 in Texas of crimes which if committed in New Mexico would have been felonies, and sentencing as provided in § 40A-29-5, N.M.S.A. 1953, was sought. A plea of not guilty to the charge was entered, and on January 7, 1965, appellant was tried before a jury on the issue of the prior convictions. Proof was made by introducing duly exemplified and authenticated copies of the proceedings in each case. *357 Appellant testified that although the records indicated in each of the Texas convictions that he had been represented by counsel, in fact he had only pro forma representation and that he had in effect received no assistance from the attorneys in preparing a defense. Thereafter, on motion of the district attorney, the evidence of appellant was stricken by the trial court as a collateral attack on the Texas judgments. A second ground asserted for striking the evidence was to the effect that the proof would not permit reasonable minds to differ as to whether questions of the adequacy of counsel had been effectively waived in the Texas proceedings. The court, in ruling on the motion, stated that if a collateral attack were permissible, the issue of whether representation by counsel was effective or waived was one which would have to be presented to the jury. However, because the court was of the opinion that no collateral attack could be made on proceedings which appeared regular on their face, the motion to strike appellant's evidence was sustained. The jury was instructed that it was to determine only if appellant was the same person who had been convicted in each of the Texas proceedings, and that it was not to consider appellant's testimony concerning his lack of representation, the same being an improper collateral attack on a judgment of a court of another state, fair and proper on its face. The jury brought in a verdict finding appellant was the same person convicted in each of the Texas cases, whereupon he was sentenced to serve "the rest of his natural life" as required by § 40A-29-5(C), N.M.S.A. 1953. From that judgment and sentence this appeal is prosecuted. Appellant has been represented by counsel in all proceedings in this cause. His only contention here goes to the question of whether he had a right to show as a defense to the charge under the habitual criminal act that he had only had pro forma representation by counsel in the three Texas proceedings so that he was denied due process of law, and his convictions were accordingly void. That absent competent and intelligent waiver, a person charged with crime in a state court who is a pauper and unable to employ counsel is entitled to have an attorney appointed to defend him, is not open to question. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S. Ct. 792, 9 L. Ed. 2d 799, 93 A.L.R.2d 733. It is beyond doubt that this decision is to be applied retroactively. United States ex rel. Durocher v. LaVallee (C.A.2, 1964) 330 F.2d 303, cert. den. 377 U.S. 998, 84 S. Ct. 1921, 12 L. Ed. 2d 1048; Pickelsimer v. Wainwright, 375 U.S. 2, 84 S. Ct. 80, 11 L. Ed. 2d 41. It is equally clear that the representation to which a defendant is entitled is something more than a pro forma appearance. Avery v. State of Alabama, 308 U.S. 444, 60 S. Ct. 321, 84 L. Ed. 377; Brubaker v. Dickson (C.A.9, 1962) 310 F.2d 30, cert. den. 372 U.S. 978, 83 S. Ct. 1110, 10 L. Ed. 2d 143; Turner v. State of Maryland (C.A.4, 1962) 303 F.2d 507; Pineda v. Bailey (C.A.5, 1965) 340 F.2d 162. Recognizing the rules as thus stated, we come to the proposition of whether or not the question of the adequacy of representation so as to meet the requirements of due process in a prior trial and conviction in another state may be raised as an issue under our habitual criminal statute. Section 40A-29-7, N.M.S.A. 1953, reads as follows: It would appear from the language quoted that the only issue to be determined is whether the defendant is the same person who was previously convicted of other crimes as charged. But if the convictions were in trials where there was a denial of due process, can they be considered as prior convictions? The State would have us adopt the rule announced in New York in People v. McCullough, 300 N.Y. 107, 89 N.E.2d 335, decided in 1949, wherein it was held that when a felony conviction from another jurisdiction has been used as a base for an increased penalty under the New York multiple offender law, an allegation by the defendant that the foreign state conviction was void because he was not advised of his right to counsel, cannot be heard in New York either under a writ of error coram nobis or under habeas corpus. In United States ex rel. Savini v. Jackson (C.A.2, 1957) 250 F.2d 349, 354, we find the court saying the following concerning the responsibility of New York under its multiple offender law: Again in 1962, the U.S. Court of Appeals had occasion to pass on the situation in New York in the case of United States ex rel. *359 LaNear v. LaVallee (C.A.2, 1962) 306 F.2d 417, 420, wherein we find the following: Thereafter, in People v. Wilson, 13 N.Y.2d 277, 246 N.Y.S.2d 609, 196 N.E.2d 251, decided in 1963, the New York Court of Appeals reaffirmed its position as announced in People v. McCullough, supra, insofar as collateral attacks in coram nobis or habeas corpus proceedings are concerned. To complete the New York picture we also note that by Chap. 446 of the Laws of 1964, the New York legislature amended its penal laws to provide that a defendant, on arraignment as a multiple offender, could question the constitutionality of prior convictions relied on to increase the sentence to be imposed. In People v. Cornish, 21 A.D.2d 280, 250 N.Y.S.2d 233, 235-236, the following is stated concerning the law of New York both before and after the 1964 amendment: The court went on to discuss the previously noted amendment to the penal code, stating: *360 Thus it is seen that although New York had denied the right to collaterally attack a conviction from another state in a coram nobis proceeding or in a habeas corpus proceeding, it has never held that it could not be done in circumstances such as are here present. As a matter of fact, Judge Fuld, the author of People v. McCullough, supra, in a special concurring opinion in People v. Wilson, supra, suggested that possibly the method followed by appellant here might be proper, and by statute in New York it is now specifically authorized. See United States ex rel. Bagley v. LaVallee (C.A.2, 1964) 332 F.2d 890. We have already cited and quoted from United States ex rel. LaNear v. LaVallee, supra, and United States ex rel. Savini v. Jackson, supra. In addition to what was there said, we find the Supreme Court of the United States, in Oyler v. Boles, 368 U.S. 448, 82 S. Ct. 501, 7 L. Ed. 2d 446, 451, in an opinion concurred in by a majority of the court, having the following to say: and in the dissenting opinion (368 U.S. 448, 82 S. Ct. 501, 7 L. Ed. 2d 446, 455) in which four justices joined, we find the following stronger and more direct statement: *361 We are impressed that the only reason the court did not hold directly in accord with what was said in the dissenting opinion, was the failure of the defendant to raise the issue, and if he had done so, the duty to permit the collateral attack was absolute in order to comport with due process requirements. We see nothing in our statute which in any way prevented the trial court from hearing evidence directed at the question of the validity of the prior convictions. See State v. Powers, 75 N.M. 141, 401 P.2d 775. As a matter of fact, when in § 40A-29-7, supra, it is stated, "If the jury finds that the defendant is the same person and that he has in fact been convicted of such previous crimes as charged * * *" certainly it must have been contemplated that the convictions were valid and not void because of some constitutional defect. If void, they would be nullities and not convictions. Carver v. Boles (W. Va. 1965) 142 S.E.2d 731; Compare Sneed v. Cox, 74 N.M. 659, 397 P.2d 308. Since the question of the right to present the same type of evidence as was here tendered in a habeas corpus proceeding is not before us, we express no opinion on whether it would be admissible. Neither do we consider if the tendered evidence would have supported a conclusion that the prior convictions were void. Rather, we are convinced that the evidence was admissible and that the court erred in sustaining the motion to strike and in not considering the evidence in determining if appellant had been adequately represented when he was charged and pleaded guilty to each of the offenses in Texas. See Oyler v. Boles, supra, note 9. We are also extremely conscious of the fact that this holding will open the door to attacks on previous convictions whenever a habitual criminal charge is filed, and that the state may thereby be placed at great expense to support the validity of prior convictions. None the less, we see no escape from the conclusion reached and would subscribe to what was said by the federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in United States ex rel. Savini v. Jackson, supra. It follows from what has been said that the determination that the defendant was a habitual criminal appealed from in this case must be reversed and the cause remanded to the trial court with instructions to grant appellant a new trial. It is so ordered. CARMODY, C. J., and CHAVEZ, NOBLE and COMPTON, JJ., concur.