Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/323/471/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 17:06:00+00:00

Document:
In a petition to the Supreme Court of Missouri for a writ of habeas corpus, the petitioner, confined in a state penitentiary under a 15-year sentence for robbery by means of a deadly weapon (a capital offense in Missouri), alleged that, prior to his conviction, he requested the aid of counsel, but that none was appointed; that he did not waive his constitutional right to the aid of counsel; that he was incapable of making his own defense adequately, and, as a consequence, was compelled to plead guilty. The court allowed the petitioner to proceed in forma pauperis, but denied the petition for failure to state a cause of action.
1. The petitioner's right to counsel was a right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution. P. 323 U. S. 473.
2. Whether the federal right of the petitioner was infringed is for this Court to determine. P. 323 U. S. 473.
3. The petition's having been denied without requiring the State to answer and without giving the petitioner an opportunity to prove his allegations, and the allegations of the petition being not inconsistent with the recitals of the accompanying certified copy of the sentence and judgment, this Court treats the allegations of the petition as true. P. 323 U. S. 474.
4. The petition sufficiently alleged a deprivation of due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U. S. 45. P. 323 U. S. 474.
5. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it will be presumed that, when a defendant requests counsel, he is without counsel and without funds to retain counsel. P. 323 U. S. 474.
6. Although a judgment based on a plea of guilty, like other judgments, may not be set aside lightly on collateral attack, a judgment based on a plea of guilty to a capital offense by a defendant who requested but was not granted counsel, and who was incapable adequately of making his own defense, stands on a different footing. P. 323 U. S. 474.
7. The nature of the offense charged against the petitioner emphasized the need of counsel. P. 323 U. S. 474.
his right to counsel cannot be defeated by his failure to take an appeal from that judgment. P. 323 U. S. 477.
9. Since the state grounds were advanced to sustain the denial of the petition are insubstantial, the denial is assumed to have been on the ground that the petition stated no cause of action based on the federal right. P. 323 U. S. 478.
Certiorari, 322 U.S. 725, to review an order denying a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
"Prior to his conviction and sentence, as aforesaid, the petitioner requested the aid of counsel. At the time of his conviction and sentence, as aforesaid, the petitioner was without the aid of counsel, the Court did not make an appointment of counsel, nor did petitioner waive his constitutional right to the aid of counsel, and he was incapable adequately of making his own defense, in consequence of which he was compelled to plead guilty."
Amendment. The Supreme Court of Missouri allowed petitioner to proceed in forma pauperis, but denied the petition for the reason that it "fails to state a cause of action." The case is here on a petition for a writ of certiorari which we granted because of the substantial nature of the constitutional question which is raised. 322 U.S. 725.
"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."
plea of guilty to a lesser offense would be appropriate. [Footnote 5] A layman is usually no match for the skilled prosecutor whom he confronts in the courtroom. He needs the aid of counsel lest he be the victim of overzealous prosecutors, of the law's complexity, or of his own ignorance or bewilderment.
These are reasons why the right to counsel is "fundamental." Powell v. Alabama, supra, p. 287 U. S. 70; Grosjean v. American Press Co., 297 U. S. 233, 297 U. S. 243-244; Avery v. Alabama, 308 U. S. 444, 308 U. S. 447. They indicate the protection which the individual needs when charged with crime. Prompt and expeditious detection and punishment of crime are necessary for the protection of society. But that may not be done at the expense of the civil rights of the citizen. Law enforcement need not be inefficient when accommodated to the constitutional guarantees of the individual.
"where the defendant is unable to employ counsel, and is incapable adequately of making his own defense because of ignorance, feeble-mindedness, illiteracy, or the like, it is the duty of the court, whether requested or not, to assign counsel for him as a necessary requisite of due process of law."
of Powell v. Alabama to establish a deprivation of due process of law if their verity is determined. See Cochran v. Kansas, 316 U. S. 255. Cf. Walker v. Johnston, 312 U. S. 275.
As we have said, Missouri does not claim that habeas corpus is not available in this type of case, or that, under Missouri law, there is some procedure other than habeas corpus available to petitioner in which he may challenge the judgment of conviction on constitutional grounds. Missouri, however, does contend that the denial of counsel could have been challenged by petitioner by an appeal, that no appeal was taken, and that no extraordinary circumstances are shown which excuse that failure. Heretofore, we have not considered a failure to appeal an adequate defense to habeas corpus in this type of case. Smith v. O'Grady, supra. Under these circumstances, the failure to appeal only emphasizes the need of counsel. If an appeal were made such a requirement, the denial of counsel would, in and of itself, defeat the very right which the Constitution sought to protect.
might be the basis of the decision. [Footnote 7] That is to say, the only state grounds which have been advanced in support of the decision below appear to be insubstantial. We can only assume, therefore, that the denial by the Supreme Court of Missouri was for the reason that the petition stated no cause of action based on the federal right. That seems to us to be the fair intendment of the language which it used if we put to one side, as we must, the insubstantial state grounds which have been advanced in explanation of the denial. If, perchance, the Supreme Court of Missouri meant that some reason of state law precludes a decision of the federal question, that question is not foreclosed by this decision. Cf. State Tax Commission v. Van Cott, 306 U. S. 511; Minnesota v. National Tea Co., 309 U. S. 551. But, on the present state of the record before us, we do not see what more petitioner need do to establish the federal right on which his petition is based.
It is available to challenge the constitutionality of the statute on which the judgment of conviction rests. Ex parte Smith, 135 Mo. 223, 36 S.W. 628; Ex parte Taft v. Shaw, 284 Mo. 531, 538, 539, 225 S.W. 457; Ex parte McKean, 338 Mo. 597, 600, 92 S.W.2d 141.
Thus, one indicted for robbery in the first degree cannot be convicted of robbery in the second degree, but may be convicted of larceny. State v. Jenkins, 36 Mo. 372; State v. Davidson, 38 Mo. 374; State v. Brannon, 55 Mo. 63.
"Robbery in the first degree without the use of a dangerous and deadly weapon is included in the charge of robbery by means of such weapon. Larceny is also so included, and, where the charge is robbery and there is evidence of a larcenous taking of property but the element of force such as to constitute the offense of robbery is wanting, there should be an instruction submitting larceny."
State v. Craft, 338 Mo. 831, 843, 92 S.W.2d 626, 632. And see State v. Weinhardt, 253 Mo. 629, 161 S.W. 1151.
In the following cases, the Court, without benefit of an opinion of the state court, examined the pleadings, found substantial state grounds on which the judgment might have rested, and dismissed the writ. Johnson v. Risk, supra; Allen v. Arguimbau, supra; Bachtel v. Wilson, 204 U. S. 36; Adams v. Russell, 229 U. S. 353; Cuyahoga River Power Co. v. Northern Realty Co., 244 U. S. 300, 244 U. S. 303; Lynch v. New York, supra; Woolsey v. Best, 299 U. S. 1; McGoldrick v. Gulf Oil Corp., 309 U. S. 2.
on the ground that the trial court violated the Missouri statute in that the record did not show that the judge had ascertained the inability of the accused to employ counsel before appointing them. The Missouri Supreme Court held that the absence of such a specific finding did not constitute a violation of the Missouri statutes.
"The record shows that it was upon defendant's request that the court assigned him counsel. Having requested the court to assign counsel, it will then be presumed that defendant was without counsel, and that he lacked funds to employ them."
of a state court can rest on a state ground, it is our duty to conclude that it does so rest; it is our duty not to assume that the state court rejected a claim under the United States Constitution.
These sound like dry rules of technical jurisdiction. In fact, they express an important phase of due regard for our federal constitutional system. State courts are no less under duty to observe the United States Constitution than is this Court. To be sure, authority is vested in this Court to see to it that that duty is observed. But to assume disobedience, instead of obedience, to the Law of the Land by the highest courts of the States is to engender friction between the federal and state judicial systems, to weaken the authority of the state courts and the administration of state laws by encouraging unmeritorious resorts to this Court, and wastefully to swell the dockets of this Court.
of counsel for accused in need. Digest of the Laws of Missouri Territory, 1818, Crimes and Misdemeanors § 35. There is nothing to warrant the assumption that the Supreme Court of Missouri was unmindful of the exactions of its own historic law or of the extent to which that is now embedded in the Due Process Clause. On the contrary, every assumption must be indulged that that court was mindful of the right which may be claimed by an indigent accused to have a lawyer's aid for his defense. But it may also have been mindful of the requirement of her law that a trial judge be reasonably convinced that an accused is in need of counsel.
that the great writ of habeas corpus is not abused, [Footnote 2/2] and that the administration of criminal justice is not needlessly weakened by astute devices. While the petition in this case was signed by Williams alone, it bears every evidence of having been drawn by one aware of the relevant legal issues and skilled in legal drafting.
obedience to its own traditions lies so readily on the surface of this record.
"The rules which govern the action of this court in cases of this sort are well settled. Where it appears by the record that the judgment of the State court might have been based either upon a law which would raise a question of repugnancy to the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States, or upon some other independent ground, and it appears that the court did, in fact base its judgment on such independent ground, and not on the law raising the Federal question, this court will not take jurisdiction of the case even though it might think the position of the State court an unsound one. But where it does not appear on which of the two grounds the judgment was based, then, if the independent ground on which it might have been based was a good and valid one, sufficient of itself to sustain the judgment, this court will not assume jurisdiction of the case; but if such independent ground was not a good and valid one, it will be presumed that the State court based its judgment on the law raising the Federal question, and this court will then take jurisdiction."
Klinger v. Missouri, 13 Wall. 257, 80 U. S. 263.
"We have repeatedly held that it is essential to the jurisdiction of this Court in reviewing a decision of a court of a State that it must appear affirmatively from the record not only that a federal question was presented for decision to the highest court of the State having jurisdiction, but that its decision of the federal question was necessary to the determination of the cause; that the federal question was actually decided, or that the judgment as rendered could not have been given without deciding it. De Saussure v. Gaillard, 127 U. S. 216, 127 U. S. 234; Johnson v. Risk, 137 U. S. 300, 137 U. S. 306-307; Wood Mowing & Reaping Machine Co. v. Skinner, 139 U. S. 293, 139 U. S. 295, 139 U. S. 297; Whitney v. California, 274 U. S. 357, 274 U. S. 360-361; Lynch v. New York, 293 U. S. 52, 293 U. S. 54."
"We are dealing with a writ antecedent to statute, and throwing its root deep into the genius of our common law. . . . It is perhaps the most important writ known to the constitutional law of England, affording as it does a swift and imperative remedy in all cases of illegal restraint or confinement. It is of immemorial antiquity, an instance of its use occurring in the thirty-third year of Edward I. It has through the ages been jealously maintained by Courts of Law as a check upon the illegal usurpation of power by the Executive at the cost of the liege."
Secretary of State For Home Affairs v. O'Brien,  A.C. 603, 609.

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