Opinion ID: 2224284
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Necessity of Objecting at the Trial.

Text: The state argues that the Escobedo question may not be raised on this appeal because of the failure of defense counsel to object at trial to the admission of the confession of Holloway. When defendant's statement admitting the conspiracy was offered by the state at trial the defense made no objection as to this defendant. Thereupon this statement was received and defendant was later convicted. The state cites a long list of Wisconsin cases which establish the rule that failure to object to the admission of evidence at trial waives this objection on appeal. [9] The state also cites several cases where the evidence admitted did not meet the requirements of Escobedo and the appellate court ruled that failure of objection at trial waives this objection on appeal. [10] None of these cases, however, considers the doctrine of Henry v. Mississippi [11] or Goodchild. [12] In Henry evidence was admitted at trial without objection. On appeal to the state appellate court the defendant alleged that the evidence had been obtained as a result of an illegal search, but the state court held that the failure to object was fatal to defendant's appeal. The United States supreme court did not decide that a state must forgo insistence on the procedural requirement of objection to preserve error, but remanded for a determination of whether the failure to object was a strategic maneuver. The doctrine of Henry v. Mississippi must be considered in the light of Jackson v. Denno. [13] In Jackson no objection was made to the admission of Jackson's statements. The United States supreme court reviewed the issue of whether they were voluntary anyway and determined that the voluntariness of defendant's statements was not an issue for the jury. In State ex rel. Goodchild v. Burke (after Henry and Jackson ) our court did not make an express holding that the failure to object to evidence is not fatal to the preservation of constitutional errors. This issue was never reached because it was obvious from the record that objection to the evidence had not been made for strategic reasons. [14] In the case at bar, no such tactical reasons are apparent. Defense counsel objected to admission of Holloway's statement on the conspiracy, but only on the grounds that it was inadmissible against Simmons, the codefendant. Thus the court is squarely faced with the question of whether an objection must be made to preserve constitutional error. Such an objection is not necessary, although in the instant case nothing is gained by the defendant since the facts do not meet Escobedo as interpreted by this court.