Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/389/128/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 03:53:25+00:00

Document:
to appoint counsel. The probation officer gave hearsay testimony that petitioner had committed the acts of forgery and grand larceny, whereupon the court revoked probation and imposed the maximum sentence of 15 years on the previous second degree burglary conviction. A year later, petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition with the State Supreme Court, claiming a denial of the right to counsel at the combined probation revocation and sentencing proceeding. The court denied the petition.
Held: The Sixth Amendment, as applied through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, requires that counsel be afforded to a felony defendant in a post-trial proceeding for revocation of his probation and imposition of deferred sentencing. Pp. 389 U. S. 133-137.
(a) The time of sentencing is a critical stage in a criminal case, and counsel's presence is necessary to ensure that the conviction and sentence are not based on misinformation or a misreading of court records. Townsend v. Burke, 334 U. S. 736 (1948); Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U. S. 335 (1963). Pp. 389 U. S. 133-134.
(b) Though, in the State of Washington, the trial judge is required at the time of sentencing to impose the maximum term, the actual length of that term to be served being determined by the parole board, the judge and prosecutor are required to recommend the length of time to be served and to supply the board with information about the crime and the defendant, and the marshaling of facts in connection with these functions requires the aid of counsel. P. 389 U. S. 135.
(c) The services of counsel at the deferred sentencing stage are necessary to ensure that certain rights, such as that of appeal, are seasonably asserted, and to afford the defendant the substantial assistance which may be necessary in various other situations at that stage. Pp. 389 U. S. 135-136.
No. 16, 68 Wash.2d 882, 416 P.2d 104; No. 22, reversed and remanded.
revoked on the ground that he had been involved in a burglary on September 15, 1959. A hearing was held in the Spokane County Superior Court on October 23, 1959. Petitioner Mempa, who was 17 years old at the time, was accompanied to the hearing by his stepfather. He was not represented by counsel, and was not asked whether he wished to have counsel appointed for him. Nor was any inquiry made concerning the appointed counsel who had previously represented him.
to three. Mempa v. Rhay, 68 Wash.2d 882, 416 P.2d 104. We granted certiorari to consider the questions raised. 386 U.S. 907 (1967).
Petitioner William Earl Walkling was convicted in the Thurston County Superior Court on October 29, 1962, of burglary in the second degree on the basis of his plea of guilty entered with the advice of his retained counsel. He was placed on probation for three years, and the imposition of sentence was deferred. As conditions of his probation, he was required to serve 90 days in the county jail and make restitution. On May 2, 1963, a bench warrant for his arrest was issued based on a report that he had violated the terms of his probation and had left the State.
On February 24, 1964, Walkling was arrested and charged with forgery and grand larceny. After being transferred back to Thurston County, he was brought before the court on May 12, 1964, for a hearing on the petition by the prosecuting attorney to revoke his probation. Petitioner then requested a continuance to enable him to retain counsel, and was granted a week. On May 18, 1964, the hearing was called and Walkling appeared without a lawyer. He informed the court that he had retained an attorney, who was supposed to be present. After waiting for 15 minutes, the court went ahead with the hearing in the absence of petitioner's counsel. He was not offered appointed counsel, and would not have had counsel appointed for him had he requested it. Whether he made such a request does not appear from the record.
At the hearing, a probation officer presented hearsay testimony to the effect that petitioner had committed the acts alleged in the 14 separate counts of forgery and 14 separate counts of grand larceny that had been charged against petitioner previously at the time of his arrest.
The court thereupon revoked probation and imposed the maximum sentence of 15 years on Walkling on his prior second degree burglary conviction. Because of the failure of the State to keep a record of the proceeding, nothing is known as to whether Walkling was advised of his right to appeal. He did not, however, take an appeal.
In May, 1966, Walkling filed a habeas corpus petition with the Washington Supreme Court, claiming denial of his right to counsel at the combined probation revocation and sentencing proceeding. The petition was denied on the authority of the prior decision in Mempa v. Rhay, supra. We granted certiorari, 386 U.S. 907 (1967), and the cases were consolidated for argument.
"In this case, counsel might not have changed the sentence, but he could have taken steps to see that the conviction and sentence were not predicated on misinformation or misreading of court records, a requirement of fair play which absence of counsel withheld from this prisoner."
the petitioner of due process, notwithstanding the fact that he simply pleaded not guilty at that time, because, under Alabama law, certain defenses had to be raised then or be abandoned. See also Reece v. Georgia, 350 U. S. 85 (1955), and White v. Maryland, 373 U. S. 59 (1963).
All the foregoing cases, with the exception of White, were decided during the reign of Betts v. Brady, 316 U. S. 455 (1942), and accordingly relied on various "special circumstances" to make the right to counsel applicable. In Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U. S. 335 (1963), however, Betts was overruled and this Court held that the Sixth Amendment, as applied through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, was applicable to the States, and, accordingly, that there was an absolute right to appointment of counsel in felony cases.
The State, however, argues that the petitioners were sentenced at the time they were originally placed on probation, and that the imposition of sentence following probation revocation is, in effect, a mere formality constituting part of the probation revocation proceeding. It is true that sentencing in Washington offers fewer opportunities for the exercise of judicial discretion than in many other jurisdictions. The applicable statute requires the trial judge in all cases to sentence the convicted person to the maximum term provided by law for the offense of which he was convicted. Wash.Rev.Code § 9.95.010. The actual determination of the length of time to be served is to be made by the Board of Prison Terms and Paroles within six months after the convicted person is admitted to prison. Wash.Rev.Code § 9.95.040.
On the other hand, the sentencing judge is required by statute, together with the prosecutor, to furnish the Board with a recommendation as to the length of time that the person should serve, in addition to supplying it with various information about the circumstances of the crime and the character of the individual. Wash.Rev.Code § 9.95.030. We were informed during oral argument that the Board places considerable weight on these recommendations, although it is in no way bound by them. Obviously, to the extent such recommendations are influential in determining the resulting sentence, the necessity for the aid of counsel in marshaling the facts, introducing evidence of mitigating circumstances, and in general aiding and assisting the defendant to present his case as to sentence is apparent.
two cases, the eventual imposition of sentence on the prior plea of guilty is based on the alleged commission of offenses for which the accused is never tried.
* Together with No. 22, Walkling v. Washington State Board of Prison Term and Parole, also on certiorari to the same court.
The State suggests that the Supreme Court of Washington was in error in stating that Mempa received a deferred, rather than a suspended, sentence, but we accept that court's characterization of the sentence as supported by the record.
Under Washington procedure, the trial judge is required by statute to impose the maximum sentence provided by law for the offense, Wash.Rev.Code § 9.95.010, but is also required, along with the prosecuting attorney, to make a recommendation to the parole board of the time that the defendant should serve, accompanied by a statement of the facts concerning the crime and any other information about the defendant deemed relevant. Wash.Rev.Code § 9.95.030. However, it is the parole board that actually determines the time to be served. Wash.Rev.Code § 9.95.040. See infra at 389 U. S. 135.
See Kadish, The Advocate and the Expert -- Counsel in the Peno-Correctional Process, 45 Minn.L.Rev. 803, 806 (1961).
E.g., Martin v. United States, 182 F.2d 225 (C.A. 5th Cir.1950); McKinney v. United States, 93 U.S.App.D.C. 222, 208 F.2d 844 (1953); Nunley v. United States, 283 F.2d 651 (C.A. 10th Cir.1960).
State v. Proctor, 68 Wash.2d 817, 415 P.2d 634 (1966), modified the Farmer rule only to permit an appeal following placement on probation in cases involving (1) a contested trial and (2) the imposition of a jail term or fine as a condition of probation.
See generally Newman, Conviction -- The Determination of Guilt or Innocence Without Trial (1966); Enker, "Perspectives on Plea Bargaining," in The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, Task Force Report: The Courts 108-119 (1967).

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