Opinion ID: 2082485
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Delay in Transport to County Jail

Text: Appellant claims as a ground for post-conviction relief that the trial court, in failing to have appellant transported to a jail in close proximity to his defense attorneys until one week before trial, committed error. Appellant's second trial was set for a Hendricks County court, yet appellant was held at the Tippecanoe County Jail until one week prior to trial. Appellant argues that the distance between his lawyers and himself hindered his defense, limiting the amount of time spent in consultation and the quality of the time appellant spent with his attorneys. Appellant relies upon Geders v. U.S., 425 U.S. 80, 96 S.Ct. 1330, 47 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976). In Geders, during the defense's case-in-chief, the defendant had taken the witness stand to testify. While the defendant was subject to direct examination, the proceedings ended for the day. The trial court instructed the defendant not to discuss his testimony with anyone, not even to consult with his attorney during the overnight recess. The trial court in Geders reasoned that the defendant would not have the right to consult with his attorney following direct examination and prior to cross examination, due to the danger of the defense attorney coaching the defendant. The United States Supreme Court reversed the trial court, holding that this instruction led to the ineffective assistance of counsel. The Court recognized that the role of counsel is important precisely because ordinarily a defendant is ill-equipped to understand and deal with the trial process without a lawyer's guidance. Geders, 425 U.S. at 88, 96 S.Ct. at 1335, 47 L.Ed.2d at 599. Geders does not apply to the present case. In Geders, the trial court specifically took steps to prevent the defendant from consulting with his attorney. Here, the trial court did nothing to prevent appellant's attorneys from consulting with appellant. At any rate, appellant has not shown that he could not consult with his attorneys, or that appellant's attorneys were denied access to appellant. Appellant had two defense counsel. One testified at the post-conviction hearing that it was not more difficult to consult with appellant, and the distance had little effect on their ability to consult with appellant and to prepare for trial. The other testified that although appellant was being held at a location some forty minutes away, the distance did not hinder his ability to have meaningful consultation with appellant. A billing statement to appellant reveals that one defense counsel spent in excess of seven hours conferring with appellant prior to the second trial. Appellant did not show that he was denied assistance of counsel due to the distance between himself and his counsel. Therefore, the trial court was not in error in rejecting this ground.