Opinion ID: 514627
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to Provide Counsel at Arraignment.

Text: 27 Cross-appealing, Gilmore first argues that the district court erred in rejecting his claim that the failure to provide counsel at arraignment renders his conviction violative of the sixth amendment. 16 Gilmore alleges that without the presence or advice of counsel, he entered a plea of not guilty at his August 11, 1981 arraignment. It is undisputed that Gilmore had not waived the presence of counsel. Counsel was not appointed until fifteen days later. 17 In March of 1982, when Gilmore's appointed attorney attempted to assert a defense of mental disease or defect pursuant to Mo.Rev.Stat. Sec. 552.030, the State objected on the ground that the defense was barred by the ten-day limitation provided in Mo.Rev.Stat. Sec. 552.030(2). 18 The trial court disallowed formal assertion of the defense. Gilmore contends that the absence of counsel at arraignment and his subsequent inability to assert a Chapter 552 defense resulted in a violation of his sixth amendment rights. 28 The sixth amendment right to counsel applies to those critical stages of a criminal prosecution where the results might well settle the accused's fate and reduce the trial itself to a mere formality. United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 224, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 1930, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967). Hence, the sixth amendment has been held applicable to certain pretrial proceedings including interrogation activities conducted at or after the initiation of adversary criminal proceedings--whether by way of formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information or arraignment, Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 689, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 1882, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972), and to that type of arraignment or preliminary hearing itself at which rights of the accused may be lost or sacrificed. Hamilton v. Alabama, 368 U.S. 52, 54, 82 S.Ct. 157, 158, 7 L.Ed.2d 114 (1961); see also Coleman v. Alabama, 399 U.S. 1, 9, 90 S.Ct. 1999, 2003, 26 L.Ed.2d 387 (1970). 29 Significantly, [t]he question whether arraignment signals the initiation of adversary proceedings ... is distinct from whether the arraignment itself is a critical stage requiring the presence of counsel.... Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625, 630 n. 3, 106 S.Ct. 1404, 1407 n. 3, 89 L.Ed.2d 631 (1986). The test for determining whether a particular proceeding is itself a critical stage is whether the presence of ... counsel is necessary to preserve the defendant's basic right to a fair trial.... United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. at 227, 87 S.Ct. at 1932. In undertaking this inquiry, a reviewing court must analyze whether potential substantial prejudice to [the] defendant's rights inheres in the particular confrontation and the ability of counsel to help avoid that prejudice. Coleman v. Alabama, 399 U.S. at 7, 90 S.Ct. at 2002; United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. at 227, 87 S.Ct. at 1932. Resolution of this question turns principally upon the State's treatment of the defendant's actions at the proceeding in issue. See Hamilton v. Alabama, 368 U.S. at 53, 54 & n. 4, 82 S.Ct. at 158 & n. 4. Thus, a defendant has been held entitled to counsel at an arraignment where, under state law, defenses not then raised are considered abandoned, id. at 53, 82 S.Ct. at 156, but not at an arraignment proceeding governed by a state law which provided that any uncounselled plea or waiver of rights was subject to withdrawal after the appointment of counsel. Vitoratos v. Maxwell, 351 F.2d 217, 221 (6th Cir.1965), cert. denied, 383 U.S. 105, 86 S.Ct. 718, 15 L.Ed.2d 618 (1966). 30 Applying these principles, this court held in McClain v. Swenson, 435 F.2d 327, 330 (8th Cir.1970), that in Missouri, the absence of counsel at arraignment is not per se a violation of the sixth amendment unless there is a showing that by reason of the absence of counsel the appellant lost [a] right or privilege or the [S]tate gained some advantage. See also Collins v. Swenson, 443 F.2d 329, 332 (8th Cir.1971) (under Missouri law the arraignment proceeding is not a critical phase of the state criminal procedure when no prejudice arises from it); Parks v. State, 518 S.W.2d 181, 184 (Mo.Ct.App.1974) (same). 31 Our review of the record in the case at hand persuades us that Gilmore did not lose any right or privilege, nor did the State gain any advantage, as a result of the fact that Gilmore was not represented by counsel at his arraignment. Gilmore's failure to raise a Chapter 552 defense within the ten-day period set forth in Mo.Rev.Stat. Sec. 552.030(2) did not foreclose assertion of the defense, but required only that Gilmore demonstrate good cause for his untimeliness. Moreover, unlike the arraignment procedure in Hamilton v. Alabama, under the Missouri scheme, a trial court's refusal to accept an untimely request to raise the defense is reviewable. Thus, available defenses are not irretrievably lost if not raised at a Missouri arraignment. Cf. Hamilton, 368 U.S. at 54, 82 S.Ct. at 158. Finally, the Missouri Court of Appeals' decision in Parks v. State, 518 S.W.2d at 184, indicates that where there is no evidence of a mental disease or defect, no prejudice can be demonstrated as the result of the absence of counsel at arraignment and the subsequent inability to assert a Chapter 552 defense. In Gilmore's direct appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court not only found that no good cause had been shown for Gilmore's failure to timely assert a Chapter 552 defense, but additionally stated that the trial court with the evidence of [Gilmore's] mental condition 19 before it ... did not abuse its discretion in disallowing formal assertion of such defense. State v. Gilmore, 661 S.W.2d at 524. Gilmore has never challenged this conclusion, nor has he set forth any evidence in opposition to the Missouri Supreme Court's finding that the state trial court considered evidence of his mental condition before denying his request to formally assert a Chapter 552 defense. See id. In these circumstances, we conclude that the absence of counsel at Gilmore's arraignment did not violate his sixth amendment rights, and we affirm the district court's dismissal of this claim. 32