Opinion ID: 1926442
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Strategic Waiver

Text: [1, 2] ¶ 11. Under the doctrine of strategic waiver, also known as invited error, [a] defendant cannot create his own error by deliberate choice of strategy and then ask to receive benefit from that error on appeal. Vanlue, 87 Wis. 2d at 460-61. Thus, whether a defendant has strategically waived an objection is a question of law subject to de novo review. See State v. Ruud, 41 Wis. 2d 720, 726, 165 N.W.2d 153 (1969). One commentator has remarked that Wisconsin's strategic waiver rule: prevents a party from counterattacking with otherwise inadmissible evidence when he has deliberately chosen not to object with the aim of using the otherwise inadmissible evidence to his own advantage. . . . The flip side of this coin is that a party who does object to the use of inadmissible evidence by his opponent does not forgo his right to claim error on appeal merely because he makes an effort to use the same or similar evidence in a defensive fashion after he has failed in his effort to exclude the evidence. 1 Wigmore, Evidence § 15, at 733 n.3 (Tiller's rev. 1983) (emphasis in original) (citing Vanlue, 87 Wis. 2d at 460-62). Thus, there is a distinction between a party's use of objected to evidence for his own benefit and the use of such evidence purely for defensive purposes. Id., § 18, at 836-38 & n.37 (citing Vanlue, 87 Wis. 2d at 460-62). ¶ 12. In Ruud, 41 Wis. 2d at 723, the defendant argued on appeal that certain statements given to police were not preceded by an adequate Miranda [5] warning. However, the defense had entered into a stipulation with the State regarding the admissibility of the statements at trial. Ruud, 41 Wis. 2d at 724. On appeal, the court noted that the defendant had made a knowing election between alternative courses of action. Instead of making any attempt to attack the validity of the statement the defense, as a matter of strategy, chose to use it to support his theory of the case. Id. at 726. In such a circumstance, a defendant is estopped from claiming error. Id. ¶ 13. In contrast, in Vanlue, 87 Wis. 2d at 457-58, the defendant objected to the circuit court's ruling allowing the State to cross-examine him regarding the nature of two previous convictions. After his objection was overruled, the defendant introduced evidence relating to the nature of his prior offenses during his case-in-chief. Id. at 460. The State claimed that the defendant had strategically waived his objection because he made a knowing election to introduce the evidence in an attempt to lessen the prejudice against him. Id. at 460-61. In rejecting the State's argument, the court of appeals distinguished Ruud, id. at 461, and reasoned: When the defendant's objection was overruled, the evidence was going to be placed before the jury by the State. In order to lessen the prejudicial impact the evidence would have on the jury, the defense counsel had no choice but to offer the evidence himself. To decide whether to put the damaging evidence in or let the State put it in amounted to no election at all. There was no way this evidence could be used favorably by the defendant. Id. at 462. The court concluded, [s]ince Vanlue's counsel objected . . . it made no difference who placed the evidence before the jury. . . . There was no strategic waiver. Id. ¶ 14. Vanlue is directly on point with the present case. However, the State argues that we should overrule the court of appeals' holding in Vanlue regarding strategic waiver in light of Ohler v. United States, 529 U.S. 753 (2000); and State v. Frank, 2002 WI App 31, 250 Wis. 2d 95, 640 N.W.2d 198. ¶ 15. In Ohler, 529 U.S. at 755, the United States Supreme Court addressed whether, under federal law, a defendant waives her right to challenge an in-limine ruling, allowing the use of prior crimes for impeachment purposes, when the defendant introduces the evidence during her direct examination. The Court utilized the rule that when a party objects to evidence of a certain fact and then introduces evidence of that fact through its own witness, the party has waived its objection. Id. The Court held that when a defendant objects to an in-limine ruling and that objection is overruled, the defendant's preemptive introduction of the evidence at trial constitutes waiver. Id. at 760. The court reasoned that because both parties must make tough choices at trial, there is nothing unfair about putting a party to its choice, and any harm flowing from the in-limine ruling would be wholly speculative after the defendant preemptively introduced the evidence. Id. at 757-59. ¶ 16. In Frank, 250 Wis. 2d 95, ¶¶ 1-3, a decision subsequent to Ohler, the defendant, charged with sexual contact with a child under the age of 13, objected to the State's in-limine motion to introduce other acts evidence. The defendant thereafter entered into a Wallerman [6] stipulation, whereby he conceded intent and motive to avoid introduction of the other acts evidence. Id., ¶¶ 3-6. On appeal the defendant challenged the circuit court's ruling on the in-limine motion. Id., ¶ 1. The court of appeals held that the defendant could not challenge the in-limine ruling because, due to the Wallerman stipulation, the other acts evidence was never introduced. Id., ¶ 15. In so holding, the court of appeals relied heavily upon the Court's rationale in Ohler that a defendant cannot claim error based on a choice made at trial. Id., ¶¶ 13-15. However, the court's reliance on Ohler in Frank was not necessary to its holding. The court of appeals correctly stated that error cannot be assigned to an in-limine ruling when the evidence is never introduced at trial. Frank, 250 Wis. 2d 95, ¶ 9. [3, 4] ¶ 17. This court is not bound to follow Ohler. As the court of appeals noted in the instant case, Wisconsin courts are not bound by decisions of the United States Supreme Court when federal law does not govern the dispute. Gary M.B., 261 Wis. 2d 811, ¶ 11 (citing State v. King, 205 Wis. 2d 81, 93, 555 N.W.2d 189 (Ct. App. 1996)). Further, while decisions of the Supreme Court interpreting the Federal Rules of Evidence may be persuasive authority, they are not binding on this court. State v. Blalock, 150 Wis. 2d 688, 702, 442 N.W.2d 514 (Ct. App. 1989). Ohler involved a judicial formulation of the strategic waiver rule to be used in federal courts; the Court's ruling did not involve a question of federal constitutional law or a construction of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Court's formulation of the strategic waiver rule in Ohler is contrary to the approach Wisconsin courts have utilized. Finally, as the dissent recognized in Ohler, the majority's holding is against the great weight of academic authority. See Ohler, 529 U.S. at 762-63 (Souter, J., dissenting) (collecting authority). [5, 6] ¶ 18. The present case is distinguishable from both Ruud and Frank. Unlike the defendant in Ruud, Gary did object to the use of the disputed evidence. Further, Gary did not introduce the evidence himself in order to further his theory of the case. Unlike the defendant in Frank, Gary was not successful in preventing the jury from hearing the objectionable testimony. Gary did nothing more than follow what the court of appeals recognized as ` the usual trial strategy of raising the issue of defendant's prior convictions on the premise that this approach is less damaging than if the prosecutor raises the issue first.' Gary M.B., 261 Wis. 2d 811, ¶ 22 (emphasis added, quoting State v. Pitsch, 124 Wis. 2d 628, 631, 369 N.W.2d 711 (1985)). Therefore, we conclude that the court of appeals' formulation of the strategic waiver doctrine in Vanlue was correct and hold that under Wisconsin law, a defendant does not commit strategic waiver when he unsuccessfully objects to the introduction of evidence and preemptively introduces the evidence in an attempt to mitigate its prejudicial effect.