Opinion ID: 407646
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Use of Dr. Sprehe's Report Without Affording Appellant Opportunity for Cross-Examination36a

Text: 68 The right to cross-examine adverse witnesses is guaranteed to criminal defendants by the confrontation clause of the sixth amendment. Douglas v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 415, 418, 85 S.Ct. 1074, 1076, 13 L.Ed.2d 934 (1965); Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400, 404, 85 S.Ct. 1065, 1068, 13 L.Ed.2d 923 (1965). Indeed, it has been said that 69 (t)he primary object of the (confrontation clause) was to prevent depositions or ex parte affidavits ... being used against the prisoner in lieu of a personal examination and cross-examination of the witness in which the accused has an opportunity, not only of testing the recollection and sifting the conscience of the witness, but of compelling him to stand face to face with the jury in order that they may look at him, and judge by his demeanor upon the stand and the manner in which he gives his testimony whether he is worthy of belief. 70 Douglas v. Alabama, 380 U.S. at 418-19, 85 S.Ct. at 1076-77 (quoting Mattox v. United States, 156 U.S. 237, 242-43, 15 S.Ct. 337, 339-40, 39 L.Ed. 409 (1895)). Accord Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 315-16, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1109-10, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974). Cross-examination has been placed on a par with the right to notice and an opportunity to be heard and the right to counsel, which are considered fundamental minimum requirements of a fair trial comporting with the due process clause. Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 294-95, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 1045, 35 L.Ed.2d 297 (1973); Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. at 405, 85 S.Ct. at 1068 (both quoting In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 273, 68 S.Ct. 499, 507, 92 L.Ed. 682 (1948)). So basic is the right that the Supreme Court has held that its denial, without waiver ... would be constitutional error of the first magnitude and no amount of showing of want of prejudice would cure it. Smith v. Illinois, 390 U.S. 129, 131, 88 S.Ct. 748, 749, 19 L.Ed.2d 956 (1968); Brookhart v. Janis, 384 U.S. 1, 3, 86 S.Ct. 1245, 1246, 16 L.Ed.2d 314 (1966). 37 71 The rights guaranteed by the sixth amendment, including the right to cross-examination, are only applicable to proceedings that constitute critical stages of the trial. See, e.g., United States v. Harris, 458 F.2d 670, 677-78 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 888, 93 S.Ct. 195, 34 L.Ed.2d 145 (1972) (preliminary hearing); Ryan v. State of Montana, 580 F.2d 988, 992 (9th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 977, 99 S.Ct. 1548, 59 L.Ed.2d 796 (1979) (probation revocation and deferred sentencing hearing); Polizzi v. United States, 550 F.2d 1133, 1138 (9th Cir. 1976) (judge's in camera questioning of jurors re possible improper influence); United States v. Mitchell, 540 F.2d 1163, 1165 n.1 (3d Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1099, 97 S.Ct. 1119, 51 L.Ed.2d 547 (1977) (preliminary hearing). But cf. Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 790, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 1763, 36 L.Ed.2d 656 (1973) (due process guarantees right of cross-examination in probation revocation hearing); Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 489, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 2604, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972) (limited right of cross-examination applies to probation revocation proceedings). Traditionally, sentencing hearings have not been accorded the significance of the guilt-determination portion of trial; by and large, sentencing has been left to the broad discretion of the judge or jury, United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443, 447, 92 S.Ct. 589, 591, 30 L.Ed.2d 592 (1972); McGautha v. California, 402 U.S. 183, 91 S.Ct. 1454, 28 L.Ed.2d 711 (1971), and courts have declined to apply to sentencing most of the procedural rights guaranteed by the sixth amendment. E.g., Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241, 69 S.Ct. 1079, 93 L.Ed. 1337 (1949) (confrontation and cross-examination); United States v. Glick, 463 F.2d 491, 494 (2d Cir. 1972) (factfinding by jury). See also Hill v. United States, 368 U.S. 424, 82 S.Ct. 468, 7 L.Ed.2d 417 (1962) (right of allocution at sentencing not of constitutional dimension). But see Mempa v. Rhay, 389 U.S. 128, 88 S.Ct. 254, 19 L.Ed.2d 336 (1967) (right to assistance of counsel applies at sentencing); Specht v. Patterson, 386 U.S. 605, 87 S.Ct. 1209, 18 L.Ed.2d 326 (1967) (due process guarantees hearing and confrontation in separate post-trial proceeding for indeterminate commitment of convicted sex offenders). See generally Note, The Constitutionality of Statutes Permitting Increased Sentences for Habitual or Dangerous Criminals, 89 Harv.L.Rev. 356, 359-73 (1975). The justification for the refusal to extend the procedural limitations of the trial to the sentencing hearing was in part historical and in part rested on the belief that modern penological policies, which favor sentencing based on the maximum amount of information about the defendant, would be thwarted by restrictive procedural and evidentiary rules. Williams v. New York, 357 U.S. at 246-50, 69 S.Ct. at 1082-84. The possibilities of delay in criminal administration and retrial of issues not relevant to the determination of guilt are additional considerations underlying the result in these cases. Id. at 250, 69 S.Ct. at 1084. 72 Although the absence of procedural requirements designed to ensure fairness in sentencing has been widely criticized, Note, supra at 360; see, e.g., Kadish, Legal Norm and Discretion in the Police and Sentencing Processes, 75 Harv.L.Rev. 904, 926-29 (1962), such has remained the constitutional rule with respect to sentencing in noncapital cases. E.g., Farrow v. United States, 580 F.2d 1339, 1353-54 n.25 (9th Cir. 1978) (en banc); United States v. Fatico, 579 F.2d 707, 711-12 n.10 (2d Cir. 1978), appeal after remand, 603 F.2d 1053 (2d Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1073, 100 S.Ct. 1018, 62 L.Ed.2d 755 (1980). The constitutional requirements governing capital sentencing, by contrast, have undergone substantial evolution in the wake of Furman v. Georgia. The thrust of Furman and its progeny is that the risk of arbitrary imposition of the death penalty inherent in sentencing determinations made without substantive and procedural standards conflicts with the eighth amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Because the death penalty, unlike other punishments, is permanent and irrevocable, the procedures by which the decision to impose a capital sentence is made bring into play constitutional limitations not present in other sentencing decisions. See Enmund v. Florida, --- U.S. ----, ----, 102 S.Ct. 3368, 3375-76, 73 L.Ed.2d ---- (1982); Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. at 605, 98 S.Ct. at 2965; Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349, 357-58, 97 S.Ct. 1197, 1204, 51 L.Ed.2d 393 (1977); Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 303-04, 305, 96 S.Ct. 2978, 2990-91, 49 L.Ed.2d 944 (1976) (opinion of Stewart, Powell, and Stevens, JJ.); Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 181-88, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 2928-32, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (opinion of Stewart, Powell, and Stevens, JJ.); Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. at 286-91, 92 S.Ct. at 2750-53 (Brennan, J., concurring); id. at 306, 92 S.Ct. at 2760 (Stewart, J., concurring); id. at 314-71, 92 S.Ct. at 2764-2793 (Marshall, J., concurring). The Supreme Court has adhered to the traditional concept of individualized sentencing, see Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978); Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. at 303-04, 96 S.Ct. at 2990, but has imposed procedural, as well as substantive, limitations on capital sentence decisionmaking. The view, once prevalent, that the procedural requirements applicable to capital sentencing are no more rigorous than those governing noncapital sentencing decisions, see, e.g., McGautha v. California, 402 U.S. at 217, 91 S.Ct. at 1472; Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. at 251-52, 69 S.Ct. at 1085, is no longer valid. Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. at 357-58, 97 S.Ct. at 1204. 73 Although the Court has held capital sentencing proceedings must meet certain procedural requirements, it has not yet delineated the exact scope of constitutional procedural protection to which capital defendants are entitled. See Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. at 358 n.9, 97 S.Ct. at 1204 n.9. Whether the right to cross-examine adverse witnesses extends to capital sentencing proceedings has not been specifically addressed by the Supreme Court and is an issue of first impression in this Circuit. We must therefore decide this question in accord with the general principles articulated by the Supreme Court in its recent death penalty decisions. 74 The focus of the Court's current capital sentencing decisions has been toward minimizing the risk of arbitrary decisionmaking. See, e.g., Eddings v. Oklahoma, --- U.S. ----, ----, 102 S.Ct. 869, 874-76, 71 L.Ed.2d 1, 8-9 (1982); id. --- U.S. at ----, 102 S.Ct. at 878, 71 L.Ed.2d at 13 (O'Connor, J., concurring); Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420, 427-28, 100 S.Ct. 1759, 1764-65, 64 L.Ed.2d 398; Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. at 605, 98 S.Ct. at 2965; Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. at 358, 97 S.Ct. at 1204; Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. at 188, 96 S.Ct. at 2932 (opinion of Stewart, Powell, and Stevens, JJ.); id. at 189, 96 S.Ct. at 2932 (opinion of White, J., concurring); Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. at 248-49 & n.11, 92 S.Ct. at 2731 & n.11 (opinion of Douglas, J.); id. at 309-20, 92 S.Ct. at 2762-67 (opinion of Stewart, J.); id. at 313, 92 S.Ct. at 2764 (opinion of White, J.). Whereas earlier cases had focused on the quantity of information before the sentencing tribunal, recently the Court has shown greater concern for the quality of such information. Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. at 359, 97 S.Ct. at 1205. Thus, it has recognized the defendant's interest both in presenting evidence in his favor, Eddings v. Oklahoma, --- U.S. ----, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982); Lockett v. Ohio, supra, and in being afforded the opportunity to explain or rebut evidence offered against him. Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. at 362, 97 S.Ct. at 1207. Reliability in the factfinding aspect of sentencing has been a cornerstone of these decisions. Id. at 359-60, 362, 97 S.Ct. at 1205; Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. at 305, 96 S.Ct. at 2991. 75 In Gardner v. Florida, supra, the Supreme Court held that a judge's reliance, in imposing the death penalty, on information not disclosed to the defendant or his attorney violated the defendant's rights to due process and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. Gardner is premised on the principle that death sentences may not constitutionally be imposed on the basis of information that the capital defendant has been afforded no opportunity to rebut. See id. at 362, 97 S.Ct. at 1206. The holding in Gardner, narrowly viewed, simply prohibits the use of secret information; the Court did not in that case address the scope of the capital defendant's procedural rights in attempting to rebut information that has openly been presented to the sentencing tribunal. In reaching its decision in Gardner, however, the Court emphasized the unacceptability of the risk that some information accepted in confidence may be erroneous, or may be misinterpreted, by the ... sentencing judge. Id. at 359, 97 S.Ct. at 1205. Moreover, the Court expressly recognized the importance of participation by counsel and adversarial debate to eliciting the truth and evaluating the relevance and significance of aggravating and mitigating evidence. Id. at 360, 97 S.Ct. at 1205. The Supreme Court's emphasis in Gardner and other capital sentencing cases on the reliability of the factfinding underlying the decision whether to impose the death penalty convinces us that the right to cross-examine adverse witnesses applies to capital sentencing hearings. The Supreme Court has recognized cross-examination as the 'greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth.'  California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 158, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 1935, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970) (quoting 5 J. Wigmore, Evidence § 1367 (3d ed. 1940)). 76 The right of cross-examination is more than a desirable rule of trial procedure. It is implicit in the constitutional right of confrontation, and helps assure the accuracy of the truth-determining process. It is, indeed, an essential and fundamental requirement for the kind of fair trial which is this country's constitutional goal. Of course, the right to confront and to cross-examine is not absolute and may, in appropriate cases, bow to accomodate other legitimate interests in the criminal process. But its denial or significant diminution calls into question the ultimate  'integrity of the fact-finding process'  and requires that the competing interest be closely examined. 77 Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 295, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 1045, 35 L.Ed.2d 297 (1973) (citations omitted; emphasis added). Where expert witnesses are employed, cross-examination is even more crucial to ensuring accurate fact-finding. Since, as in this case (see note 36 and accompanying text supra ), information submitted by an expert witness generally consists of opinions, cross-examination is necessary not only to test the witness's knowledge and competence in the field to which his testimony relates but also to elicit the facts on which he relied in forming his opinions. 38 78 Finally, we note that the decision of the former Fifth Circuit in Smith v. Estelle, 602 F.2d 694 (5th Cir. 1979), aff'd, 451 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 1866, 68 L.Ed.2d 359 (1981), buttresses our conclusion that appellant had a constitutional right to cross-examine Dr. Sprehe before the doctor's report could be used in determining sentence. In Smith, we reversed a death sentence that was based in part on the testimony of a psychiatrist whose name the prosecution had intentionally omitted from its witness list. A primary basis for the decision in that case was that the prosecution's failure to disclose its intent to call the doctor prevented the defendant's counsel from conducting effective cross-examination. See id. at 699-701 & n.7. 39 Although the court did not specifically address whether the defendant had a constitutional right to cross-examine the psychiatrist, it concluded that his testimony, not effectively cross-examined by the (defense attorneys,) ( ) carries no assurance of reliability whatever, id. at 701, and hence that its use in sentencing the defendant violated the principles set forth in Gardner v. Florida. The reasoning in Smith clearly supports the view that the right to cross-examine adverse witnesses applies to capital sentencing proceedings, at least where necessary to ensure the reliability of the witnesses' testimony. 79 The Supreme Court's analysis in Gardner indicates that abridgment of fundamental constitutional rights at capital sentencing may be justified in some instances where the state demonstrates a compelling interest. See Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. at 358-61, 97 S.Ct. at 1205-06. See also Smith v. Estelle, 602 F.2d at 701-02. Appellee suggests no cogent reason for denying appellant the opportunity to cross-examine Dr. Sprehe, however. Nor does any justification appear in the record, which indicates neither the reason for Sprehe's absence from the hearing nor why the judge chose to proceed with sentencing without his cross-examination. The most likely explanation of the judge's actions was that he wished to avoid further delay in sentencing appellant. As the Supreme Court noted in Gardner in a similar context: 80 In those cases in which the accuracy of a report is contested, the trial judge can avoid delay by disregarding the disputed material. Or if the disputed matter is of critical importance, the time invested in ascertaining the truth would surely be well spent if it makes the difference between life and death. 81 Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. at 359-60, 97 S.Ct. at 1205. 82 The district court did not address the merits of appellant's confrontation clause claim with respect to Dr. Sprehe's report because it found that the trial court did not consider Dr. Sprehe's report in imposing sentence. We are bound by this factual finding unless it is clearly erroneous. Baty v. Balcom, 661 F.2d 391, 394 n.7 (5th Cir. 1981). The district court relied on statements by Judge Burnside, who presided at appellant's trial, to the effect that he did not use Dr. Sprehe's report in imposing sentence. A review of the judge's testimony reveals that he qualified his statement by explaining that he did receive and read Dr. Sprehe's report and considered it for the limited purpose of ascertaining whether it supported the psychiatric mitigating circumstances. 40 After determining that the report did not support such mitigating factors, he did not consider it further. The court's reliance on this testimony is flawed in two respects. First, the district court should not have considered the trial judge's post-decision statements concerning the influence various facts had on his decision. The judge's testimony was not limited to matters of basic, historical fact but directly addressed the effect of the psychiatric evidence on his sentencing decision. Such post-decision statements by a judge or juror about his mental processes in reaching decision may not be used as evidence in a subsequent challenge to the decision. See Fayerweather v. Ritch, 195 U.S. 276, 25 S.Ct. 58, 49 L.Ed. 193 (1904); United States v. Crouch, 566 F.2d 1311, 1316 (5th Cir. 1978). Second, even had it been competent evidence, the judge's testimony does not support a finding that he made no use of the report. We therefore hold the district court's finding that the trial court did not consider Sprehe's report was clearly erroneous, and appellant was entitled to cross-examine Dr. Sprehe. 83