Opinion ID: 1315797
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to Preserve Error

Text: Despite our conclusion that the appeal should not be considered due to untimely filing, we are compelled to observe that the Appellant also failed to preserve her allegations of substantive error for appeal. For instance, the Appellant contends that the lower court erred in permitting the prompting of a juror, Mr. Denzil Lantz, during jury polling, and the Appellant has submitted affidavits indicating that the jury foreman told Juror Lantz to say guilty during the polling. Mr. Lantz was apparently unable to hear the court's question regarding guilt or innocence. Once Mr. Lantz was informed by two other jurors about the content of the question, Mr. Lantz answered, Guilty. No objection was raised regarding Mr. Lantz' apparent inability to understand the court's question. The City maintains that there is no justification for reversing the Appellant's conviction on the basis of alleged juror coercion, particularly because no objection was asserted during or after the polling of the jury preserving this issue for appeal. We agree with the contentions of the City and additionally note that the Appellant has failed to generate a showing of prejudice by this juror's conduct, such that the incident would not necessarily constitute reversible error even if it had been properly preserved by objection below. [3] In syllabus point three of O'Neal v. Peake Operating Co., 185 W.Va. 28, 404 S.E.2d 420 (1991), this Court explained the forfeiture of appellate options as follows:  `Where objections were not shown to have been made in the trial court, and the matters concerned were not jurisdictional in character, such objections will not be considered on appeal.' Syllabus Point 1, State Road Commission v. Ferguson, 148 W.Va. 742, 137 S.E.2d 206 (1964). 185 W.Va. at 29, 404 S.E.2d at 421, Syl. Pt. 3. In Hanlon v. Logan County Board of Education, 201 W.Va. 305, 496 S.E.2d 447 (1997), we explained as follows: `To preserve an issue for appellate review, a party must articulate it with such sufficient distinctiveness to alert a circuit court to the nature of the claimed defect. The rule in West Virginia is that parties must speak clearly in the circuit court[,] on pain that, if they forget their lines, they will likely be bound forever to hold their peace.... It must be emphasized that the contours for appeal are shaped at the circuit court level by setting forth with particularity and at the appropriate time the legal ground upon which the parties intend to rely.' Id. at 315, 496 S.E.2d at 457 ( quoting State v. Browning, 199 W.Va. 417, 425, 485 S.E.2d 1, 9 (1997) ( quoting State ex rel. Cooper v. Caperton, 196 W.Va. 208, 216, 470 S.E.2d 162, 170 (1996) (citation omitted))). Rule 51 of the West Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure provides, in pertinent part, as follows: Exceptions to rulings or orders of the court are unnecessary and for all purposes for which an exception has heretofore been necessary it is sufficient that a party, at the time the ruling or order of the court is made or sought, makes known to the court the action which that party desires the court to take or his or her objection to the action of the court and the grounds therefor[.] A litigant may not silently acquiesce to an alleged error, or actively contribute to such error, and then raise that error as a reason for reversal on appeal. Syl. Pt. 1, Maples v. West Virginia Dept. of Commerce, Div. of Parks and Recreation, 197 W.Va. 318, 475 S.E.2d 410 (1996). While we have occasionally invoked the plain error rule to correct error which occurred without objection, we find no compelling reason to apply the plain error rule to this factual scenario, nor have we been requested to do so. In State v. LaRock, 196 W.Va. 294, 470 S.E.2d 613 (1996), we explained that courts should be very cautious in recognizing plain error. Syllabus point seven of LaRock provides the following guidance: An unpreserved error is deemed plain and affects substantial rights only if the reviewing court finds the lower court skewed the fundamental fairness or basic integrity of the proceedings in some major respect. In clear terms, the plain error rule should be exercised only to avoid a miscarriage of justice. The discretionary authority of this Court invoked by lesser errors should be exercised sparingly and should be reserved for the correction of those few errors that seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings. 196 W.Va. at 299, 470 S.E.2d at 618, Syl. Pt. 7. We also observed as follows in LaRock: `One of the most familiar procedural rubrics in the administration of justice is the rule that the failure of a litigant to assert a right in the trial court likely will result' in the imposition of a procedural bar to an appeal of that issue. [State v.] Miller, 194 W.Va. [3] at 17, 459 S.E.2d [114] at 128 [(1995)], quoting United States v. Calverley, 37 F.3d 160, 162 (5th Cir.1994) (en banc), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1196, 115 S.Ct. 1266, 131 L.Ed.2d 145 (1995). 196 W.Va. at 316, 470 S.E.2d at 635. We properly recognized that in general, the law ministers to the vigilant, not to those who sleep on their rights. Id. The Appellant in the present case also failed to object when the prosecutor questioned the Appellant with regard to male police officers processing the Appellant at the jail, as follows: You didn't tell them they had a nice ass or anything like that? While the Appellant correctly asserts on appeal that there existed no basis for such a crass remark, there was no objection at trial. While the Appellant asserts on appeal that a nonlawyer should not have been permitted to preside over the trial in municipal court, she also failed to object to that issue below. [4] The Appellant also asserts the denial of a de novo trial in circuit court. While West Virginia Code § 8-34-1 (1969) provided for a de novo appeal to the circuit court, this statute was amended in 1998, prior to the trial in the instant case, to omit the de novo reference for jury municipal court trials. [5] The Appellant asserts on appeal that the CMI Intoxilyzer 5000 instrument which recorded the Appellant's breath sample may have been unreliable; yet no argument regarding the validity of the breath test was presented to the lower court, and no objection was made on that basis during the trial. The Appellant also contends that the video recording of the alleged incident of juror prompting was indecipherable; yet, no objection was raised regarding that issue, and video served as adequate record for review by the lower court from the municipal court trial. The Appellant also raises issues of ineffective assistance of counsel, based upon trial counsel's failure to properly object to errors at the municipal court level. This Court has consistently held that claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are not properly raised on direct appeal. State v. Miller, 197 W.Va. 588, 611, 476 S.E.2d 535, 558 (1996). As we explained in Miller, [i]neffective assistance of counsel claims raised on direct appeal are presumptively subject to dismissal. Id. ( citing State v. Miller, 194 W.Va. 3, 14-17, 459 S.E.2d 114, 125-28.) Such claims should be raised in a collateral proceeding rather than on direct appeal to promote development of a factual record sufficient for effective review. Miller, 197 W.Va. at 611, 476 S.E.2d at 558. Upon review of the record and briefs, we affirm the decision of the Circuit Court of Barbour County. Affirmed.