Opinion ID: 1113445
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Fundamental Constitutional Error

Text: In years past, we have recognized an exception to the Waltreus rule when the habeas corpus petitioner claims a violation of his or her fundamental constitutional rights. Thus, in In re Winchester, supra, 53 Cal.2d 528, we opined that Habeas corpus has become a proper remedy in this state to collaterally attack a judgment of conviction which has been obtained in violation of fundamental constitutional rights. ( Id. at p. 531; cf. Cuyler v. Sullivan (1980) 446 U.S. 335, 343 [64 L.Ed.2d 333, 343, 100 S.Ct. 1708] [federal rule permits state prisoner to seek habeas relief in federal court if he alleges he is in custody in violation of federal Constitution]; 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a) [same].) Past cases have thus permitted a habeas corpus petitioner to renew a claim of fundamental constitutional error that has previously been rejected on appeal. We emphasize, however, that no statutory requirement directs us to permit relitigation of certain issues in a postconviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus where the matter has been duly considered on appeal. Rather, the judicially created Waltreus rule, and the similarly created exceptions to the rule, are simply manifestations of this court's resolve to balance the state's weighty interest in the finality of judgments in criminal cases with the individual's right  also significant  to a fair trial under both the state and federal Constitutions. How to achieve the proper balance has not, however, always been clear. Certainly not all alleged constitutional defects warrant the opportunity to relitigate the issue on habeas corpus. (6) Thus, for example, the question whether evidence was admitted at trial in violation of the Fourth Amendment is not cognizable on habeas corpus. ( In re Sterling, supra, 63 Cal.2d at p. 487; In re Lessard (1965) 62 Cal.2d 497, 503 [42 Cal. Rptr. 583, 399 P.2d 39]; see also Stone v. Powell (1976) 428 U.S. 465 [49 L.Ed.2d 1067, 96 S.Ct. 3037] [same rule in federal court].) Chief Justice Traynor supplied the rationale for the court in In re Sterling, supra : `If the violation of a petitioner's constitutional rights by the use of illegally seized evidence had any bearing on the issue of his guilt, there should be no doubt that habeas corpus would be available. Unlike the denial of the right to counsel, the knowing use of perjured testimony or suppression of evidence, [or] the use of an involuntary confession, ... the use of illegally seized evidence carries with it no risk of convicting an innocent person. The purpose of the exclusionary rule is not to prevent the conviction of the innocent, but to deter unconstitutional methods of law enforcement. [Citations.] That purpose is adequately served when a state provides an orderly procedure for raising the question of illegally obtained evidence at or before trial and on appeal. The risk that the deterrent effect of the rule will be compromised by an occasional erroneous decision refusing to apply it is far outweighed by the disruption of the orderly administration of justice that would ensue if the issue could be relitigated over and over again on collateral attack.' ( In re Sterling, supra, 63 Cal.2d at pp. 487-488, italics added, quoting In re Harris (1961) 56 Cal.2d 879, 883-884 [16 Cal. Rptr. 889, 366 P.2d 305] (conc. opn. of Traynor, J.).) Just as obviously, we would be remiss were we to close the door completely, ignoring the legitimate arguments of habeas corpus litigants who claim that their bedrock constitutional rights have been trampled by the state. For example, in In re Masching (1953) 41 Cal.2d 530 [261 P.2d 251], the defendant was convicted of misdemeanor drunk driving. On appeal, he argued he was unconstitutionally deprived of his right to counsel; indeed, no counsel had been appointed although the defendant never waived his right to counsel. The appellate department affirmed his conviction and Masching filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with this court. We held the issue was cognizable in a postappeal habeas corpus petition to permit the petitioner to vindicate a fundamental right guaranteed by our Constitution, i.e., the right to counsel. ( Id. at p. 532.) It is between these polar extremes that a line must be drawn. We begin with the state's powerful interest in the finality of its judgments. (2c) This interest is particularly strong in criminal cases, for [w]ithout finality, the criminal law is deprived of much of its deterrent effect. ( Teague v. Lane (1989) 489 U.S. 288, 309 [103 L.Ed.2d 334, 355, 109 S.Ct. 1060] (plur. opn. by O'Connor, J.); see also Clark, supra, ante, at p. 766; In re McInturff (1951) 37 Cal.2d 876, 880 [236 P.2d 574]; cf. Adoption of Alexander S., supra, 44 Cal.3d at p. 868 [state's interest in finality in child-custody disputes is unusually strong in view of the importance of a stable child-parent relationship].) We thus agree wholeheartedly with Justice Harlan's trenchant comment that `No one, not criminal defendants, not the judicial system, not society as a whole is benefited by a judgment providing a man shall tentatively go to jail today, but tomorrow and every day thereafter his continued incarceration shall be subject to fresh litigation.' ( Mackey v. United States (1971) 401 U.S. 667, 691 [28 L.Ed.2d 404, 419, 91 S.Ct. 1160] (Harlan, J., conc. in part and dis. in part), quoted in Teague v. Lane, supra, 489 U.S. at p. 309 [103 L.Ed.2d at p. 355].) Clearly, the state and society have an interest in having the matter settled once and for all. Balanced against this strong interest is the interest an individual has in vindicating his or her constitutional rights. In the past, we balanced the two interests by declaring that the opportunity for a third judicial review (trial, appeal, postappeal habeas corpus) of a claim was appropriate only where the litigant made a colorable showing that a fundamental constitutional right was violated. Thus, we explained that a constitutional issue would not be cognizable on a postappeal petition for a writ of habeas corpus unless the petition could show the defect so fatally infected the regularity of the trial and conviction as to violate the fundamental aspects of fairness and result in a miscarriage of justice. ( In re Winchester, supra, 53 Cal.2d at p. 532.) This formulation permitted criminal defendants to gain a degree of postconviction, postappeal review for important constitutional violations that, for one reason or another, had gone unremedied. The inability of criminal defendants to gain vindication of their constitutional claims in the appellate courts, especially those claims affecting the ultimate fairness of their trials, justified an exception to the Waltreus rule for claims of fundamental constitutional error. Implicitly, this court found that in balancing the need for such review with the state's need for finality of judgments, the individual's need was the greater one. Although maintaining an avenue to permit the presentation of legitimately significant constitutional claims remains important today, the modern development of the doctrine of ineffective assistance of counsel may diminish the need to retain such a broad fundamental constitutional error exception to the Waltreus rule. As we explained in People v. Pope, supra, 23 Cal.3d at pages 421-426 [hereafter Pope ], the right to effective counsel was initially defined in terms of the due process clause of the federal Constitution. Thus, we initially held that in order for a litigant to obtain relief for ineffective assistance of counsel, `[i]t must appear that counsel's lack of diligence or competence reduced the trial to a farce or a sham.' [Citations.] ( Pope, supra, at p. 421, quoting People v. Ibarra (1963) 60 Cal.2d 460, 464 [34 Cal. Rptr. 863, 386 P.2d 487].) The farce or sham standard gave way to the modern view, based on the Sixth Amendment, that in order to gain relief for ineffective assistance of counsel, a litigant must show that trial counsel failed to act in a manner to be expected of reasonably competent attorneys acting as diligent advocates [and that] counsel's acts or omissions resulted in the withdrawal of a potentially meritorious defense. ( Pope, supra, 23 Cal.3d at p. 425.) This modern standard is now well established in both this state and in the federal courts. (7) We recently summarized the law in People v. Wharton (1991) 53 Cal.3d 522 [280 Cal. Rptr. 631, 809 P.2d 290]: A criminal defendant is guaranteed the right to the assistance of counsel by both the state and federal Constitutions. (U.S. Const., 6th Amend.; Cal. Const., art. I, § 15.) `Construed in light of its purpose, the right entitles the defendant not to some bare assistance but rather to effective assistance.' ( People v. Ledesma (1987) 43 Cal.3d 171, 215 [233 Cal. Rptr. 404, 729 P.2d 839], italics in original.) In order to demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must first show counsel's performance was `deficient' because his `representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness ... under prevailing professional norms.' ( Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 668, 687-688 [80 L.Ed.2d 674, 793, 104 S.Ct. 2052]; Pope, supra, 23 Cal.3d at pp. 423-425.) Second, he must also show prejudice flowing from counsel's performance or lack thereof. ( Strickland, supra, at pp. 691-692 [80 L.Ed.2d at pp. 695-696].) Prejudice is shown when there is a `reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.' ( In re Sixto [, supra, ] 48 Cal.3d [at p.] 1257; Strickland, supra, at p. 694.) ( People v. Wharton, supra, at p. 575.) The United States Supreme Court recently explained that this second prong of the Strickland test is not solely one of outcome determination. Instead, the question is whether counsel's deficient performance renders the result of the trial unreliable or the proceeding fundamentally unfair. ( Lockhart v. Fretwell (1993) 506 U.S. ___, ___ [122 L.Ed.2d 180, 191, 113 S.Ct. 838].) Similar concepts have been used to measure the performance of appellate counsel. ( In re Banks (1971) 4 Cal.3d 337, 343 [93 Cal. Rptr. 591, 482 P.2d 215]; In re Smith (1970) 3 Cal.3d 192, 202 [90 Cal. Rptr. 1, 474 P.2d 969] [inexcusable failure of appellate counsel to raise crucial assignments of error that arguably could have resulted in reversal deprived defendant of effective assistance of appellate counsel].) Since its inception, this court has applied the standard in numerous cases. Recently, we reversed a judgment imposing the death penalty, where the record showed a defendant's trial counsel had not adequately investigated evidence for the penalty phase of the trial, thereby depriving the defendant of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. ( In re Marquez (1992) 1 Cal.4th 584 [3 Cal. Rptr.2d 727, 822 P.2d 435].) Similarly, we vacated the entire judgment of conviction in a case where the record showed the trial attorney had not adequately investigated the evidence of the defendant's diminished capacity. ( In re Sixto, supra, 48 Cal.3d 1247.) And, most recently, we vacated both the guilt and penalty judgments for ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to object to statements elicited from the defendant in violation of his rights as established in Massiah v. United States (1964) 377 U.S. 201 [12 L.Ed.2d 246, 84 S.Ct. 1199]. ( In re Wilson (1992) 3 Cal.4th 945 [13 Cal. Rptr.2d 269, 838 P.2d 1222].) Experience with recent cases reveals that in the vast majority of cases, claims of fundamental constitutional error come to this court clothed in ineffective assistance of counsel raiment. Indeed, approaching the issue in this manner is apparently a conscious choice among litigants, possibly because it frees the litigant from having to demonstrate that the underlying issue is one involving fundamental aspects of fairness ... result[ing] in a miscarriage of justice. ( In re Winchester, supra, 53 Cal.2d at p. 532.) So long as it can be demonstrated that one's attorney acted unreasonably in doing or omitting to do something, courts will move on to the question of prejudice. By recounting this history, we do not intend to question the wisdom of the evolution of the doctrine of ineffective assistance of counsel. Given its existence, however, we do question the necessity of maintaining a wideranging fundamental constitutional rights exception to the Waltreus rule. Presumably most erroneous deprivations of an accused's constitutional rights that occur at trial will be corrected on appeal. Many that are not corrected on appeal are the result of the ineffective assistance of either trial or appellate counsel. As such, those claims would be cognizable in a postappeal habeas corpus petition under the ineffective counsel rubric, and there would be no need to resort to the amorphous, ill-defined fundamental constitutional rights exception. (8) Balanced against the state's considerable interest in ensuring the finality of its criminal judgments, we conclude that the fundamental constitutional rights exception to the Waltreus rule, discussed in In re Winchester, supra, 53 Cal.2d 528, and invoked in subsequent cases, is inappropriately broad. Instead, a narrower exception, one that accounts for the evolution of the ineffective assistance of counsel doctrine and its provision for increased postappeal cognizability of constitutional issues, more appropriately reflects the proper balance between the state's interest in finality and the individual's interest in vindicating his or her constitutional rights. Thus, courts will presume that a litigant received sufficient review of his or her legal claims, both constitutional and otherwise, on direct appeal. Where an issue was available on direct appeal, the mere assertion that one has been denied a fundamental constitutional right can no longer justify a postconviction, postappeal collateral attack, especially when the possibility exists of raising the issue via the ineffective assistance of counsel doctrine. Only where the claimed constitutional error is both clear and fundamental, and strikes at the heart of the trial process, is an opportunity for a third chance at judicial review (trial, appeal, postappeal habeas corpus) justified. (Cf. Arizona v. Fulminante (1991) 499 U.S. 279, 309 [113 L.Ed.2d 302, 331, 111 S.Ct. 1246] [only errors amounting to a structural defect in the trial mechanism are deserving of automatic reversal rule] (maj. opn. by Rehnquist, C.J.).) [8] The state's paramount interest in the finality of its criminal judgments demands no less. We thus turn to petitioner's arguments that his case falls outside the Waltreus rule. He claims that because he was only 15 years old when he committed his crimes, the superior court that tried him lacked jurisdiction over him, and his trial therefore denied him 2 of his fundamental constitutional rights. (9) He first contends his trial in adult court when he was only 15 years of age violated his due process right to a fair trial. Contrary to petitioner's argument, we see nothing that undermined the relative fairness of petitioner's trial. As petitioner was tried in adult court, he was simply the beneficiary of an additional procedural option  trial by jury  that was not available in juvenile court. We note that many states permit juveniles less than 16 years old to be tried as adults (see, e.g., State v. Thieszen (1989) 232 Neb. 952 [442 N.W.2d 887] [15-year-old tried for murder]; People v. Sanchez (1987) 129 A.D. 816 [513 N.Y.S.2d 521] [15-year-old tried for robbery]; Ashing v. State (1986) 288 Ark. 75 [702 S.W.2d 20] [14-year-old tried for murder]; Winters v. State (Miss. 1985) 473 So.2d 452 [15-year-old tried for rape]), and our research has not revealed that such treatment per se violates the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Petitioner also argues his right to due process was violated because he was not tried in a court of competent jurisdiction. In support, he cites Ex parte Giambonini (1897) 117 Cal. 573 [49 P. 732]. In that case, this court held the police court that tried the defendant had been unconstitutionally constituted and therefore we granted habeas corpus relief. Giambonini is inapposite inasmuch as petitioner makes no claim that the superior court that tried him was unconstitutionally constituted. (Cf. In re Horton (1991) 54 Cal.3d 82 [284 Cal. Rptr. 305, 813 P.2d 1335] [defendant claimed he was denied fundamental right to trial by regularly elected or appointed superior court judge when he was tried by court commissioner].) Inasmuch as the superior court had jurisdiction over felony trials and was properly constituted, it was a competent court. [9] (10) Petitioner also suggests his trial in adult court denied him equal protection of the laws because other offenders of his age are tried only by the juvenile court. We reject the suggestion that he has been denied a fundamental constitutional right sufficient to come within the narrow exception to the Waltreus rule. First, to the extent he is claiming he is the victim of a discriminatory prosecution (see Murgia v. Municipal Court (1975) 15 Cal.3d 286, 296 [124 Cal. Rptr. 204, 540 P.2d 44]), we note there is nothing in the record supporting such a claim. [10] Second, we reject petitioner's claim that the trial court used an irrational method to calculate his age. It does not violate equal protection principles for the Legislature to draw a line at age 16 for purposes of distinguishing between adults and juveniles where, as here, it has a rational basis for doing so. (See Massachusetts Bd. of Retirement v. Murgia (1976) 427 U.S. 307, 313-315 [49 L.Ed.2d 520, 524-526, 96 S.Ct. 2562].) Inasmuch as petitioner fails to establish a due process or equal protection violation, we need not decide whether such violations, if shown, would fall within the fundamental constitutional error exception to the Waltreus rule. We recognize the possibility that in rare situations, there may be some clear and fundamental constitutional violation striking at the heart of the trial process that should have been raised or was unsuccessfully raised on appeal, and that cannot be remedied by resort to the doctrine of ineffective assistance of counsel. Such a fundamental breakdown in the appellate process may present an exception to the Waltreus rule. We need not now define the exact boundaries of any such surviving exception, for petitioner has not demonstrated he falls within its perimeter.