Opinion ID: 1623606
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: inapplicability of harmless error analysis

Text: [6, 7] ¶ 45. The Due Process Clause protects a defendant against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he or she is charged. Winship, 397 U.S. at 364. The burden of proving all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt rests upon the State. Muller v. State, 94 Wis. 2d 450, 473, 289 N.W.2d 570 (1980). [8] ¶ 46. Proper jury instruction is a crucial component of the fact-finding process. State v. Schulz, 102 Wis. 2d 423, 426, 307 N.W.2d 151 (1981). The jury must determine guilt or guiltlessness in light of the jury charge, and the validity of that determination is dependent upon the correctness, and completeness, of the instructions given. See id., at 426-27. Elements of a crime are its requisite conduct, either an act or omission, and mental fault. Elements may include particular attendant circumstances, and sometimes, a specified result of the conduct. W. LaFave and A. Scott, Jr., Handbook on Criminal Law at 45 n.3 (1972). [9, 10] ¶ 47. We review jury instructions as a whole to determine whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury understood the instructions to allow conviction based on proof insufficient to meet the Winship standard. Avila, 192 Wis. 2d at 889, (quotations omitted) citing Victor v. Nebraska, 114 S. Ct. 1239, 1243 (1994). An inadequate jury instruction can provide a ground for reversal because it deprives the accused of a jury determination that he or she engaged in constitutionally prohibitable conduct made unlawful by statute. See, e.g., Osborne v. Ohio, 495 U.S. 103, 123-26 (1990). The court cannot direct a verdict of guilty, no matter how overwhelming the evidence. Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 149-50 (1968). ¶ 48. In this case, the State contends that the harmless error analysis applies. The State specifically relies on Illinois v. Pope, 481 U.S. 497 (1987), to contend that any instructional error in Howard's case is harmless. In Pope, the Supreme Court recognized that the harmless error analysis is appropriate in the absence of error that renders the trial fundamentally unfair. 481 U.S. at 502. The Pope Court cited Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570 (1986), as an example where the harmless error analysis was appropriate because the jury instruction did not entirely preclude the jury from considering the element of malice, even though it shifted the burden of proof in violation of Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510 (1979). Pope, 481 U.S. at 502-03. Similarly, in Pope, the jurors were not precluded from considering the question of value to determine whether a reasonable person would find value in the allegedly obscene work, even when the court erroneously instructed by giving a constitutionally infirm standard for value. Id. at 503. Even if Pope focused on the effect, rather than on the character, of the error, see United States v. Kerley, 838 F.2d 932, 938 (7th Cir. 1988), we perceive a difference. [11] ¶ 49. In Howard's case, the jury was entirely precluded from considering whether Howard possessed a dangerous weapon to facilitate commission of the predicate crime. The absence of the nexus instruction thus renders Howard's conviction on the penalty enhance fundamentally unfair. Unlike the facts in Pope and Rose, here there was no instruction on the nexus element. The Howard jurors were never asked to find whether Howard possessed a dangerous weapon to facilitate the predicate crime, nor were they instructed to presume that, if they found possession, they could find that Howard possessed the weapon to facilitate the underlying crime. ¶ 50. In other cases, reviewing courts have found the error harmless, because the instruction given on the element was somehow flawed. In none of those cases, however, was the required instruction totally absent. Carella v. California, 491 U.S. 263 (1989) (instructions containing conclusive presumption); State v. Kuntz, 160 Wis. 2d 722, 735, 467 N.W.2d 531 (1991) (jury instruction creating mandatory conclusive presumption regarding an element of the offense, presented an exceedingly rare case in which a conclusive presumption is harmless error). But see State v. Alfonsi, 33 Wis. 2d 469, 478, 147 N.W.2d 550 (1967) (trial court refused to give instruction on mens rea element, error prejudicial and new trial required); State v. Moriarty, 107 Wis. 2d 622, 631, 321 N.W.2d 324 (Ct. App. 1982) (instructing that defendant was armed, instead of instructing that defendant used or threatened to use a weapon during robbery, relieved the State of its burden to prove every fact essential to the crime, and thus was not harmless); State v. Hurd, 135 Wis. 2d at 275-76, (where trial court failed to instruct on element of wilfully, failure not harmless, new trial ordered). ¶ 51. In Avila, we distinguished the effect of flawed jury instructions from the complete absence of an essential instruction. We held that if the circuit court fails to instruct a jury about an essential element of the crime and the jury must find that element beyond a reasonable doubt, there is an automatic reversal of the verdict. If, however, there is some instruction on that element, albeit erroneous, and the jury is told that the element must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, then the analysis is one of harmless error. Avila, 192 Wis. 2d at 893a. ¶ 52. The State disagrees that Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275 (1993), cited by the Avila court, actually supports the Avila holding. The Sullivan Court recognized that most constitutional errors are amenable to the harmless error analysis. 508 U.S. at 279. Harmless error analysis looks to the basis on which the jury actually rested its verdict. Id. at 279 (citations omitted). In Sullivan, the jury found the defendant guilty of first degree murder, after receiving an unconstitutional instruction defining reasonable doubt. Id. at 277. The Court distinguished this infirmity from one where the instructions create a presumption for an element of the crime, but where the jury finds the predicate facts beyond a reasonable doubt. Under the latter scenario, the court can conclude that the presumption played no significant role in the finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 281. ¶ 53. But Howard's case is not one of an erroneous or a deficient instruction. This is a case where the required instruction on an element of the State's case was not given at all. It is a case where the failure to prove nexus affect[ed] the composition of the record. See Sullivan, 508 U.S. at 283 (Rehnquist, C.J., concurring). ¶ 54. In its brief, that State contends that our rejection of the harmless error analysis in Avila, because the instructional error related to an element of the offense, conflicts with our summary affirmance of the decision in State v. Nye, 100 Wis. 2d 398, 302 N.W.2d 83 (Ct. App. 1981). According to the State, the Nye court found harmless an erroneous jury instruction on one element of the crime of second degree sexual assault. State's Brief at 40. ¶ 55. The State both overstates our ruling in Avila, and reads too broadly the conclusion in Nye. Our holding in Avila only concerned the total absence of an instruction on an element, and did not foreclose the harmless analysis for any error related to an element. In Nye, the defendant was charged with having sexual intercourse with his 14-year old stepdaughter. One of the instructions to the jury lowered the burden of proof below the beyond a reasonable doubt standard. The instruction read if that intentional touching can be reasonably construed as being for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification ... Nye, 100 Wis. 2d at 400. ¶ 56. The court of appeals held that the jury instruction lowered the burden of proof, and thus was unconstitutional. The court then proceeded to consider whether the instruction as given constituted harmless error. Nye, 100 Wis. 2d at 403. According to the evidence, the defendant and his stepdaughter had intercourse for approximately ten minutes, resulting in orgasm. The court concluded that it was effectively impossible for the jury to conclude that the act was not committed for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. Id. at 404. The court of appeals then surmised that if the harmless error analysis applies when a court gives a jury instruction that unconstitutionally shifts the burden of proof, it clearly applies where the jury instruction merely lowers the burden of proof. Id. at 405. ¶ 57. Significantly, the Nye court did not answer the question of whether a failure to instruct on an element (nonconsent) unconstitutionally resulted in a directed verdict for the State on that element, and thus could not be harmless. The Nye court did not reach that question because a plain reading of the statute and instruction indicated that nonconsent of the victim was not an element of that crime when committed against a person less than 15 years of age. Id. at 407-08. We do not read Nye to conflict with our holding in Avila. ¶ 58. Howard may well be guilty of the offense charged against him, but he is entitled to a fair trial according to the established rules of procedures and principles of law, with a jury finding on each and every element of the crime charged. See Hart v. State, 75 Wis. 2d 371, 395, 249 N.W.2d 810 (1977) (citing Boldt v. State, 72 Wis. 7, 17, 38 N.W. 177 (1888)). By the Court. The decision of the court of appeals is affirmed.