Opinion ID: 2097443
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: ISSUE I. Competency of Counsel.

Text: We recognize that the waiver of error rule is a harsh one and that post conviction claims of incompetency of counsel have mushroomed as efforts to open the door to reviews of claimed error which, on many occasions, ought to have been previously presented. We also recognize that our seine for netting the bona fide incompetence claims is course and gives a petitioner seeking a new trial upon such grounds a burden even heavier than that carried in most post conviction proceedings. Nevertheless, these appear to be flaws inherent to our adversary system  flaws that we know of no way to eliminate if we are ever to have finality in any criminal judgment. Claims of attorney errors amounting to ineffective representation fall generally into three categories. First are those acts or omissions that are so gross upon their face as to shock the conscience in that they could not but have precluded a fair trial. Second are those acts or omissions that upon their face are so trivial as to render harm therefrom unlikely or are obviously matters of trial tactics or calculated judgments. Third are those acts or omissions that fall in-between the first two, those which, upon their face, may have seriously prejudiced the defendant's fair trial rights. Obviously, the vast majority of incompetence charges are premised upon errors falling into this third category. Assuming that the petitioner in such a case carries his burden of proof as to the facts alleged, the effect must, nevertheless, be judged in context on a case to case basis; and the burden is upon the petitioner not only as to the facts but also to persuade the trial court that his trial counsel's representation was ineffective and that the totality of the circumstances reflect incompetence and a mockery of justice. Meyers v. State (1975), Ind., 321 N.E.2d 201; Beck v. State (1974), 261 Ind. ___, 308 N.E.2d 697; Blackburn v. State (1973), 260 Ind. 5, 291 N.E.2d 686. Therefore, to enable the trial court to make a proper judgment it is, in most cases, necessary for it to have before it more than a mere recital of the attorney's alleged acts or omissions  even if they be unrefuted or stipulated as true. Usually this will require the introduction of the transcript of the criminal trial, which was not done in this case. Those proceedings are not matters of which the court may take judicial notice. Majko v. State (1965), 246 Ind. 506, 207 N.E.2d 212; Fletcher Savings & Trust Co. v. American State Bank of Lawrenceburg (1925), 196 Ind. 118, 147 N.E. 524. Summarizing the petitioner's complaints, we find his counsel accused of insufficient consultation with the petitioner and with inadequate investigation and preparation for trial. We assume that defense counsel's representation was substantially as related by the petitioner, as the prosecutor gave no rebuttal evidence. We assume that none was available to him, as a prosecutor who rests upon his judgment that the petitioner has not made a prima facie showing of entitlement to relief wagers heavily that neither the trial court nor the appeals court will be of a different opinion. Minimal consultation does not necessarily show incompetent or ineffective representation. Nettles v. State (1975), Ind. App., 327 N.E.2d 625; Daniels v. State (1974), Ind. App., 312 N.E.2d 890. To require reversal, it must be shown that the consultation was so perfunctory that evidence capable of changing the result at trial was not presented. To meet this test, petitioner referred to an allegedly improper identification procedure. He asserted that he was identified by the complaining witness while he was in court on an unrelated charge. However, he made no attempt to show how he was harmed by such procedure or what his attorney might have done to prevent it. We note that the complaining witness had known the petitioner for fourteen years. It is, therefore, highly unlikely that the witness was influenced by the allegedly improper identification procedure. Petitioner further asserted that the lack of consultation prevented his telling his trial counsel of the romantic involvement that both he and the prosecuting witness had with the same woman. Since the attorney did not have this information, his failure to have offered evidence regarding it cannot be dismissed as a matter of trial strategy. If we charge counsel's ignorance of the matter to inadequate preparation, it, nevertheless, does not appear to be of such magnitude as to require a new trial. The assumed testimony was of impeaching value only, and its absence does not shock the conscience or reduce the trial to a mockery of justice. Additionally, although such evidence may have supplied a reason for the prosecuting witness to falsely accuse the petitioner, it might also have had a damaging effect, in that it also supplied a motive for the attack upon the witness. With regard to the charge of inadequate investigation and preparation, petitioner alleges and complains that his attorney failed to call two alibi witnesses who were available in addition to those called and further failed to call as a witness the woman who reported the crime to the police. Trial counsel produced three witnesses, in addition to the petitioner, who testified that at the time of the robbery petitioner was at his mother's home. The failure to call the additional witnesses, we assume, was merely a matter of judgment. Foster v. State (1974), Ind., 320 N.E.2d 745. The attorney may reasonably have concluded that the testimony of the two additional witnesses would have been merely repetitious and unnecessary. In retrospect, the judgment may have been erroneous, but that does not render it an incompetent act. Similarly, the failure of counsel to have called the woman who reported the crime is but another instance of trial strategy. While it is possible that she might have testified that the petitioner was not the person she saw commit the crime, it is also possible that an eyewitness identification of the petitioner, equivocation by a witness called by the defense or a graphic portrayal of the fight might have resulted, any one of which could have been detrimental to the petitioner's defense. Petitioner further charged incompetence in that his attorney failed to explain details of a plea bargaining arrangement made by the attorney and the prosecutor. The facts surrounding this charge are clouded. It appears that at the time the petitioner was charged with the crime for which he stands convicted, he was also charged with second degree murder, the latter charge stemming from an unrelated incident. Petitioner was represented by the same attorney on all charges, and he testified that when he conferred with the attorney, he sometimes had difficulty in determining which of the charges was being discussed. The plea bargain related to the murder case however, and the petitioner does not challenge the bargain itself in this proceeding. He asserts only that the failure of his attorney to disclose fully the particulars of this agreement indicates that he was ineffectively and incompetently represented. This viewpoint overlooks the requirement that the attorney's incompetence resulted in ineffective representation and a mockery of justice. We do not understand how incompetence, if it was such, in the handling of a plea bargain in an unrelated case could have harmed the petitioner in the case under consideration.