Opinion ID: 1224760
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: defense counsel's failure to preserve a complete record, namely the preliminary hearing transcript, denied [appellant] his right to effective assistance of counsel.

Text: The preliminary hearing was recorded on audio tapes. Unfortunately, the tapes were inaudible, and a transcript could not be produced. Appellant's trial counsel attempted to have the tapes professionally enhanced to improve their clarity but was not successful. Appellant claims that, if his attorney had taken appropriate measures to preserve the preliminary hearing testimony, the testimony could have been used to impeach Steve Rozier, a sergeant with the Gillette police department, because the officer's trial testimony was inconsistent with his preliminary hearing testimony. Appellant insists that the attorney should have requested that another preliminary hearing be held in order to preserve the record. Appellant's exact argument is difficult to follow. He apparently contends that Officer Rozier could have been impeached because he did not discuss the November delivery at the preliminary hearing. Appellant asserts that the officer lied or recklessly disregarded the truth about the November delivery in a hearing in the Colorado case and that the judge in that case discovered the falsehood. He insists that, if the preliminary hearing transcript had been preserved, the attorney could have used it to impeach the officer without opening the door to further testimony about the Colorado case. In reviewing the trial transcript, we discovered that Officer Rozier did testify at the trial about both the September and the November deliveries. Appellant's attorney acknowledged at the post-trial hearing that Officer Rozier did not discuss the November delivery at the preliminary hearing. Officer Rozier's testimony was obviously more detailed at the trial than it was at the preliminary hearing. That does not mean, however, that his testimony was inconsistent. It is reasonable to assume that the testimony at the preliminary hearing focused on the September delivery since that was the delivery which was specifically included in the State's charge. Furthermore, Officer Rozier's testimony that a delivery occurred in November was consistent with the evidence that Appellant had delivered marihuana to Mr. Huskinson every two or three months over a period of several years. Appellant has not explained to this Court exactly how the preliminary hearing testimony was inconsistent with the trial testimony or how the preliminary hearing testimony could have been used to impeach the officer without opening the door to questions about the Colorado case. Appellant has, therefore, failed to meet his burden of proving that his counsel performed ineffectively when he failed to preserve the preliminary hearing transcript. Appellant also argues that his attorney's failure to procure a recording or transcript from the preliminary hearing prejudiced his right of appeal. Appellant did not attempt to settle the record pursuant to W.R.A.P. 3.03. He cannot, therefore, complain that his right of appeal was prejudiced when he did not make an effort to correct the problem.