Opinion ID: 2216795
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: was the defendant denied the effective assistance of trial counsel?

Text: [1] The test for determining the competency of counsel is whether the representation rendered is . . . equal to that which the ordinarily prudent lawyer, skilled and versed in criminal law, would give to clients who had privately retained his services. State v. Harper, 57 Wis.2d 543, 557, 205 N.W.2d 1 (1973); Weatherall v. State, 73 Wis.2d 22, 26-27, 242 N.W.2d 220 (1976); State v. Koller, 87 Wis.2d 253, 263-264, 274 N.W.2d 651 (1979). This court has approved the American Bar Association Project On Standards For Criminal Justice, Standards Relating To The Prosecution Function And The Defense Function, secs. 3.1(c), 3.2, 3.6, 3.9, 4.1, 5.2 and 8.6 (Approved Draft, 1971) as partial guidelines to the determination of effective representation. However, the violation of these standards does not automatically determine incompetency or ineffectiveness of the representation. State v. Harper, 57 Wis.2d at 557; State v. Simmons, 57 Wis.2d 285, 292, 298, 203 N.W.2d 887 (1973). Each case must be examined and treated upon its own facts. Effective representation is not to be equated with a not guilty verdict. State v. Harper, 57 Wis.2d at 557. Furthermore, with only limited exceptions, a lawyer has the right to select the defense position to be pursued from among the alternative defense strategies available. State v. Koller, 87 Wis.2d at 264; Weatherall v. State, 73 Wis.2d at 26. The public defender represented Mr. Roe following the conviction. His new counsel cites two areas in the trial counsel's defense of Mr. Roe, which he contends require a new trial based on the ineffective assistance of counsel. He claims that trial counsel: (1) failed to present a defense based on an intoxication theory, and (2) failed to investigate the circumstances leading up to the crime which precluded trial counsel from making a decision as to whether evidence could be offered to support a lesser degree of homicide. He argues that the trial attorney for Mr. Roe should have presented expert testimony on the issue of Mr. Roe's capacity to form the requisite intent to kill by reason of voluntary intoxication. [2] Expert testimony as to whether the defendant was intoxicated to such an extent that he did not have the capacity to form the intent necessary to commit the crime charged is generally admissible at trial. Loveday v. State, 74 Wis.2d 503, 513-514, 247 N.W.2d 116 (1976). Voluntary intoxication is a defense under sec. 939.42(2), Stats. [4] if the existence of the state of mind is negated by the condition of the defendant. The defendant must show that the alcohol had more than an adverse effect on his judgment. He must show that the actual effect of the alcohol on his mind was so severe that he was utterly incapable of forming the intent to kill. Jones v. State, 69 Wis.2d 337, 346, 230 N.W.2d 677 (1975). Although the medical experts disagreed to some extent as to the degree of effect that alcohol played in reducing Roe's inhibitions, all the medical experts testified at trial that Mr. Roe intended to kill Mr. Armbruster and that he had excellent recall of events. Roe's trial attorney received reports from three experts prior to the trial. Two of the experts stated in their reports that Mr. Roe fully intended to kill Mr. Armbruster. Neither report analyzed the precise effect that alcohol may have had on Mr. Roe. But given their statements on intent it cannot be said that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to pursue a vigorous defense based on intoxication when the facts supplied to him by his own experts showed that no such defense existed. At the post conviction hearing, Roe's trial counsel stated that he went to the Iron River area the day after the shooting and went into the Green Top Bar because he had been told that Roe was there before going to the Log Cabin Lodge. Without identifying himself, he asked whether Roe was drunk that evening. The bartender said no, that he saw Mr. Roe and he wasn't drunk at all and looked just fine to me. The witnesses at trial who were at the Log Cabin Lodge, did not notice anything unusual about Roe's mannerisms or speech. Post conviction counsel cites the testimony of the expert witnesses on the issue of intoxication. The testimony, however, only indicated that alcohol reduced Roe's inhibitions, his conscious control, and his normal inhibitions. But these observations by the medical experts do not reflect the defendant's capacity to form the requisite intent to kill at the time of the shooting. [3] We conclude the record does not show that Mr. Roe's trial counsel was ineffective in failing to pursue the intoxication defense any further than he did at trial. It is alleged that trial counsel failed to interview certain individuals who perhaps could have provided information to support a theory of self defense, heat of passion, or any other defense. Sec. 4.1 of the A.B.A. Standards Relating To The Prosecution Function And The Defense Function (Approved Draft, 1971) approved in the State v. Harper decision outlines defense counsel's duty to investigate: 4.1. Duty to investigate. It is the duty of the lawyer to conduct a prompt investigation of the circumstances of the case and explore all avenues leading to facts relevant to guilt and degree of guilt or penalty. The investigation should always include efforts to secure information in the possession of the prosecution and law enforcement authorities. The duty to investigate exists regardless of the accused's admissions or statements to the lawyer of facts constituting guilt or his stated desire to plead guilty. The duty to investigate extends to the exploration of whether the defendant possessed the requisite intent or capacity to commit the offense charged when it is not disputed that the defendant performed the act in question. Commentary to sec. 4.1, Standards Relating To The Prosecution Function And The Defense Function. Trial counsel did not conduct interviews of the bartenders at the taverns where the defendant had gotten into arguments prior to the shooting. Nor did he interview individuals present at the cribbage game where one of the players pulled out a shotgun. Nor did he interview another individual who Roe quarreled with on the day before the shooting. During that incident, Roe, who had known the other person for some time, called him a freeloader. That individual then asked Roe, Should I slay you here or should I take you outside and slay you? In addition, trial counsel did not seek to locate anyone who had been involved in the football game in which Mr. Roe was injured. Although he did not conduct personal interviews, trial counsel possessed most, if not all, of the information available from these individuals from the reports submitted to him by Drs. Lorenz and Polder. It would have served no purpose for him to have personally conducted interviews of these individuals unless he intended to rely on their testimony. Much of this information was introduced in the insanity phase of the trial by defendant's counsel through both medical experts and through the testimony of Nancy and Robert Armbruster, with whom the defendant discussed the argument with the bartender over change on Wednesday; the shotgun pointing incident at the cribbage game; and the defendant's telephone call to the F.B.I. Roe's trial counsel at the post conviction hearing said that he talked to a number of people about the shooting, and to several deputies to learn about the comparative reputations of Roe and Armbruster. He said that he did not obtain the names of the people that he talked to. He further stated that after talking with an unnamed individual who was at the bar, and after the preliminary examination he became convinced that the district attorney would be able to place Mr. Roe in the time and the place through the testimony of many, many people. He stated there was no doubt that Mr. Roe would be convicted on one thing or another in the first phase of the trial. He stated that he made four or five trips to Iron River in the course of his investigation. The public defender also asserts that trial counsel did not obtain or seek to find witnesses to testify as to the change in character in Mr. Roe prior to the shooting. However, during the insanity phase of the trial, defendant's attorney introduced evidence of Mr. Roe's change in character through a number of witnesses. The Roes' clergyman testified to the personality and marital difficulties experienced by Mr. Roe. A nurse and an orderly testified that they observed unusual behavior on the part of Mr. Roe when he entered the hospital for a possible ulcer. He told the nurse that his wife was trying to poison him. Trial counsel also attempted to demonstrate a change in character consistent with the insanity defense presented, through the testimony of a neighbor of Mr. Roe in Iron River; a retired employee of the State Highway Patrol whom Mr. Roe contacted the night before the shooting to report the threatening remarks made to him at a card game; the testimony of Nancy and Robert Armbruster; and the defendant's eighteen year old son detailing the changes in the defendant's character, drinking habits, and his marital problems. Contrary to the public defender's assertion that trial counsel failed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting and leading up to the shooting, trial counsel conducted a detailed investigation. It is true that he did not, after obtaining the facts, conduct a personal interview with every individual coming into contact with the defendant during the weeks and months before the shooting. However, Mr. Roe's trial counsel testified at the post conviction hearing that he did not want to have Roe's injury at the football game some twenty years before brought out at trial because he was afraid that that would provide a motive for the killing which would lead the jury to the conclusion that Roe intended to kill Armbruster. He further stated that he did not pursue self defense or manslaughter defenses in great detail because of the twenty to thirty minute time interval between the conversation between Roe and Armbruster and the shooting. He also did not want to have to put Mr. Roe on the stand because he did not want him to incriminate himself and because he felt that the prosecution would have easily established a motive. We believe that this approach, under the factual situation presented in the case at bar, was a reasonable one. Trial counsel was not ineffective in his investigation or handling of the case. [5]