Opinion ID: 1180372
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Depositions

Text: On stipulation of counsel, the depositions of Morse's two minor daughters had been taken three days prior to trial. The appellant was present with counsel and was granted full rights of cross-examination. Any objections could have been ruled upon by the judge before whom the depositions were taken. See California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 26 L. Ed.2d 489 (1970). At the trial, these depositions were read to the jury. The appellant does not quarrel with the taking of these depositions, but he objects to their use without a finding of unavailability of the deponents. He asserts that the use of the depositions deprived him of his constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him. U.S.Const. amend. VI (Sixth Amendment) and amend. XIV (Fourteenth Amendment); Colo.Const. art. II, § 16. He also claims that the use of the depositions violated a specific requirement of the Colorado Constitution that depositions in criminal cases may only be used if there is a finding that the witness is unavailable. Colo.Const. art. II, § 17 (implemented in Crim.P. 15). We find little merit in the appellant's contention, because prior to the reading of the depositions, there was a conference in chambers, with defense counsel present, and no objection was made when the depositions were read during the trial. It appears that defense counsel chose to permit the daughters' depositions to be read to avoid the impact of their live testimony before the jury on the identical incriminating circumstances. Morse's own daughter and his step-daughter testified that on the day of the murder, Morse came home in ill-fitting clothes, with blood on his shoes, and with his own clothes in a bucket. The daughter testified that Morse asked her to wash the clothes and to shine the shoes. She also said that Morse later burned the clothes. The fact that this testimony came from Morse's minor daughters could only heighten its effect on the jury. We have here a matter of trial strategy. Defense counsel chose to cross-examine the witnesses during the taking of the depositions, instead of before the jury. The decision was not whether to invoke a constitutional right, but how to most effectively reduce the impact of adverse testimony. Such matters of trial conduct and strategy are the responsibility of defense counsel. Steward v. People, supra . See generally, the American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice Relating to The Prosecution Function and The Defense Function (Approved Draft, 1971), The Defense Function. If every decision in a contested trial had to be made by the accused, he would be denied effective assistance and the judgment of his trial counsel. The defendant's attorney is the expert at trial, not the defendant. Lanier v. State, 486 P.2d 981 (Alaska, 1971). In our judgment, the decision of defense counsel in this matter binds his client. It is true that the right to confront witnesses is a fundamental right and that waiver of such a right is not to be lightly found. Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938). This decision was properly the responsibility of defense counsel. Therefore, the decision of defense counsel was an effective waiver. Lanier v. State, supra ; Herrera v. Wilson, 364 F.2d 798 (9th Cir. 1966); Wilson v. Gray, 345 F.2d 282 (9th Cir. 1965). Before leaving this point, it is appropriate to note that the district court was not required to consider the deposition issue in the Crim.P. 35(b) proceeding. This Court had affirmed Morse's conviction and had commented on the absence of objection at trial. Crim.P. 35(b) is not designed to eliminate the requirement for contemporaneous objection. Neighbors v. People, 171 Colo. 349, 467 P.2d 804 (1970).