Opinion ID: 1816335
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Was the defendant denied his right to be present at trial by failure to include him in two in-chambers conferences

Text: It appears that during the course of trial, defense counsel on cross-examination asked a police officer the reason the defendant was taken into custody. The district  attorney objected to the question as being beyond the scope of the direct and calling for possibly inadmissible testimony. The record indicates that a brief conference was then held in chambers between court and counsel. The record shows no reason for the conference. Immediately thereafter, however, defense counsel withdrew the question. Subsequently, another in-chambers conference was held between court and counsel in the absence of the defendant. The United States Supreme Court has held that a defendant's presence is a necessary element of due process, but only to the extent that a fair and just hearing would be thwarted by his absence. Snyder v. Massachusetts (1934), 291 U. S. 97, 54 Sup. Ct. 330, 78 L. Ed. 674. This problem was extensively discussed in Ramer v. State (1968), 40 Wis. 2d 79, 84, 161 N. W. 2d 209. We therein stated, ... whether the defendant has a right to attend a conference in chambers ... admits of no categorical `yes' or `no' answer. We pointed out, at page 85, that, When a conference in chambers deals solely with a question of law or preliminary matters of procedure, the defendant's absence does not constitute a denial of due process. In the instant case, the public defender theorizes that the decision made in the first conference concerning the state's objection to a question required the defendant's presence. He concludes that defense counsel's decision to withdraw the question was a tactical decision and, therefore, the defendant's presence was necessary. The public defender, however, gives no reason why this court should conclude that even a tactical decision on an evidentiary matter was one in which counsel or the court would be aided by the presence of the defendant. In the second off-the-record conference there is no intimation from the record why the in camera proceedings were held. Shortly after the second conference, Attorney  Robert Beaudry testified in regard to certain statements he had overheard in a conversation between the victim and one of the police officers. We find nothing in this case that suggests that decisions were reached in these conferences which required the defendant's presence. We repeat our admonitions of Ramer v. State, supra, pages 85, 86, wherein we said: ... conferences of the court and attorneys outside the presence of the accused should be rarely held during the trial and the trial judge should be solicitous in allowing the defendant to be present at a conference in chambers when he requests it. There is always a risk of the conference exceeding a nonconstitutional scope or causing misunderstanding. Certainly, there may be many breaks taken in the course of a trial in which counsel confer in chambers in regard to matters that have nothing whatsoever to do with the case at trial. We believe, however, that in such instances the judge should insert a statement in the record that the conference did not entail matters involving the case then being heard. If, in fact, the conference involves any issue in the case, the trial judge should be solicitous in permitting the defendant to be present. If a fair and just trial would be thwarted by his absence, his presence is mandatory. Snyder, supra . We recommend that a record be kept of what transpires at a conference involving issues of the case where the defendant is present. Hansen v. State (1968), 40 Wis. 2d 195, 161 N. W. 2d 289; State v. Wolfe (1970), 46 Wis. 2d 478, 175 N. W. 2d 216. If it is concluded by counsel and the judge that the presence of the defendant is neither desirable nor necessary, the subject matter of the conference should be briefly reported in a notation on the record. We cannot conclude from the facts presented that there was any infringement of the defendant's right to be present at trial.