Opinion ID: 714016
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Tippins' Interests at Stake.

Text: 53 Based on the hearing record, the district court concluded that Tippins was denied effective assistance of counsel. That conclusion is sustainable if--as seems clear--Tirelli was repeatedly unconscious, and if that happened at times when Tippins' interests were at stake. 54 A consensus of those who could observe Tirelli confirms that episodes of deep sleep were repeated, and lasted for (at least) several minutes at a time. The testimony also confirms that Tippins interests were at stake while his counsel slept. 55 The court reporter testified that the periods of unconsciousness took place during the testimony of several witnesses, and accepted five as a fair estimate. No one can determine at this distance who these witnesses were, but we can deduce that those witnesses included either the key prosecution witnesses or the witnesses Tippins was calling in his own defense. Of the twelve persons who testified at trial, Tippins was one, and three others were called by Tippins--one whose testimony supported Tippins' version of the facts and disputed Mayone's, and two character witnesses. If one assumes that Tirelli would be awake during the testimony of his own witnesses, then it is likely that he slept during the testimony of five out of the remaining eight witnesses. They were (1) Louis Deltoro, a New York state trooper; (2) Duffy, the undercover officer; (3) Mayone; (4) George Harlin, a New York state narcotics investigator; (5) Gail Tissot, a state forensic scientist; (6) Stokes; (7) Bonnie Lanier, a witness who invoked the Fifth Amendment; and (8) Robert Eboli, a police officer. At least five of these witnesses should have commanded close attention from Tippins' counsel. Halpern testified that Tirelli was not fully conscious during half of the testimony of co-defendant Stokes and two-thirds of the testimony of confidential informant Mayone--two witnesses of undeniable importance to the prosecution of Tippins. Halpern, Doris Tippins, and Judge Nelson testified that Tirelli slept during Stokes' testimony. 56 In short, there is simply no basis for the hope that Tirelli was functioning as a lawyer during critical times at trial. The trial judge was so alarmed by Tirelli's sleeping during damaging testimony by Stokes that he interrupted proceedings to reprimand him in the hall. The prosecutor recalls that there were two such reprimands. It may be that such an awakening would have been curative if the sleeping was an isolated event. But we cannot count on a trial judge to serve as the defense lawyer's alarm clock whenever matters arise that touch the client's interest. A judge is not privy to the tactics or strategy of the defense, however evident they may appear to be. Indeed, it would be an inversion of the attorney-client relationship to require the defendant to alert the lawyer to important events in the proceedings. In these circumstances, the steps taken by the trial judge evidenced the dangerous character of the problem without curing it.