Opinion ID: 853428
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Apart from Issues of Joint Representation

Text: The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 686, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). To establish a claim of ineffective assistance, the defendant must prove that: (1) counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness based on prevailing norms; and (2) there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Id. at 687-88, 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. Id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Latta maintains that she was prejudiced by the introduction into evidence of Roger's unredacted pre-arrest interview in which Roger was asked and, on counsel's objection that answering it might tend to incriminate, refused to answer questions such as Did Jackie set the fire? She also points to Studtmann's closing argument, in which he referred to the possibility that Roger was innocent but covering up for Latta: Now, then, if we would assume for argument's sake that Roger was trying to protect Jackie, again, just for argument's sake, just assume that, does that make him guilty of anything other than perhaps making a false statement to police. That is not arson murder. Although the Court of Appeals found fundamental error in permitting the joint representation of both Lattas, we believe this case presents a more conventional claim of ineffective assistance of counsel independent of the issues raised by joint representation.
Latta argues that her rights were violated when the unredacted pre-arrest interview of Roger was admitted at trial. This is claimed to have been the product of ineffective counsel and is also presented as a Bruton violation. In Bruton v. United States, the Supreme Court held that admission of one defendant's confession inculpating another defendant in a joint trial violated the other defendant's right to confrontation, even if the jury was instructed to ignore the statement. 391 U.S. 123, 136-37, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968). This presents an unusual Bruton claim. Bruton is grounded in the right to confront witnesses, which includes the defendant's right to cross-examine adverse witnesses. Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400, 406-07, 85 S.Ct. 1065, 13 L.Ed.2d 923 (1965). Bruton reasoned that an inculpatory statement by one defendant may be admissible against that defendant under the rules of evidence. Because that defendant cannot be compelled to testify, the other defendant's right of cross-examination is violated by introduction of the statement. In this case, Roger did not testify and Latta had no opportunity to cross-examine him. However, it is not Roger's testimony, but rather his silence and their joint counsel's objections to which Latta objects. Roger never admitted to any involvement in or knowledge of the fire, but he failed to answer several questions after Studtmann objected that the question called for an incriminating response. Latta argues persuasively that the effect is the same as if the court had admitted inculpatory answers from Roger, which would plainly be a Bruton violation. We agree that admission of Roger's statements violated Latta's right to cross-examine unless Roger testified at trial, which he did not. The questions to Roger and counsel's objections bore directly on Latta's guilt or innocence and Latta had no opportunity to cross-examine Roger to attempt to establish that his silence was based on circumstances that do not inculpate her. Latta urges that this silence was taken by the interrogator as a refusal to answer. Because of counsel's description of the question as incriminating, the jury may well have perceived it as inculpatory of either Roger or both Lattas. However, this was an issue available on the record and not presented on direct appeal. Accordingly, as a direct Bruton violation, it was waived. See Trueblood v. State, 715 N.E.2d 1242, 1248 (Ind.1999) (issues known and available but not raised on direct appeal are waived for postconviction proceedings). Although a Bruton claim was waived, we think counsel's failure to object to an unredacted transcript including objections and unanswered questions from Roger's pre-arrest interview is compelling evidence of ineffective assistance of counsel. Latta's pre-arrest interview also contains the same objections of counsel. The postconviction court accepted as strategic Studtmann's testimony that he concluded that it was preferable to give the jury a transcript with these statements rather than one with portions erased. We cannot understand this contention. It is difficult to see how a properly redacted transcript of the interview would have been harmful to Latta, particularly because the transcript appears to have been prepared on a dot matrix printer and was therefore presumably easily editable on a computer leaving no trace of omissions. This strategy backfired when, in its closing argument, the State referred to Latta's refusal to answer. In short, the postconviction court's conclusion that this was trial strategy seems indefensible.
Latta maintains that Studtmann's representation of her was ineffective when he asked the jury to assume, for argument's sake, that Roger was trying to protect Jackie. Instead of bolstering the common defense of accident, Studtmann in effect offered the alternative theory to the jury that Latta was the principal offender and Roger merely a devoted, albeit misguided, spouse. The postconviction court concluded that, because Roger and Latta were inquired as to their joint representation by Mr. Studtmann and the court ... there was no actual conflict that had an adverse affect [sic] on Mr. Studtmann's performance or that she was prejudiced in any way.
Because counsel's performance was deemed adequate, there was no finding by the postconviction court on the prejudice, if any, resulting from the failure to redact the statements, the failure to raise a Bruton objection, or the suggestion of apparently inconsistent defenses. Each of these appears potentially harmful to the defense, but only the last of the three seems directly related to joint defense as opposed to inadequate performance whether or not the two defendants had common counsel. Under the standard set forth in Strickland, Latta has demonstrated that Studtmann's performance fell below prevailing norms, and there is a reasonable probability that, with effective representation, the result of the proceeding would have been different. The jury was confronted with numerous objections by Latta's own counsel intimating that she was directly involved in Brad's death and that it was not accidental. Given the other issues mentioned in Part III, we are satisfied that there is a reasonable probability that Latta would have been acquitted in this circumstantial case if she had been properly represented. We agree with the Court of Appeals that the postconviction court was clearly erroneous in finding that Studtmann's representation met acceptable performance standards. For the reasons explained in Part II, however, we do not agree with the court that joint representation is inherently a Sixth Amendment violation.