Opinion ID: 1643603
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: structural error and harmless error

Text: The majority finds that the error in this case is subject to harmless-error analysis and concludes that the error was harmless. For the reasons explained below, I dissent from this portion of the majority's decision. While most constitutional errors can be harmless, some errors will always invalidate a conviction. Sullivan, 508 U.S. at 279, 113 S.Ct. 2078 (citing Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 306-07, 309-10, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991)). Structural defects in the trial mechanism defy harmless-error analysis because [t]he entire conduct of the trial from beginning to end is obviously affected. Fulminante, 499 U.S. at 309-10, 111 S.Ct. 1246. Constitutional violations that defy harmless-error analysis affect the framework within which the trial proceeds, rather than merely an error in the trial process itself. Neder, 527 U.S. at 8, 119 S.Ct. 1827 (citing Fulminante, 499 U.S. at 310, 111 S.Ct. 1246). Furthermore, structural errors necessarily render a trial fundamentally unfair. Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570, 577, 106 S.Ct. 3101, 92 L.Ed.2d 460 (1986). They deprive defendants of `basic protections' without which `a criminal trial cannot reliably serve its function as a vehicle for determination of guilt or innocence... and no criminal punishment may be regarded as fundamentally fair.' Neder, 527 U.S. at 8-9, 119 S.Ct. 1827 (quoting Rose, 478 U.S. at 577-78, 106 S.Ct. 3101). Such errors are so intrinsically harmful as to require automatic reversal ... without regard to their effect on the outcome. Id. at 7, 119 S.Ct. 1827. In contrast to structural errors that require automatic reversal, errors subject to harmless-error review require the beneficiary of the error to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the verdict obtained. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967). Under the harmless-error test of Chapman, the State, as beneficiary of the error, must prove that there is no reasonable possibility that the error contributed to the conviction. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129, 1135 (Fla.1986) (citing Chapman, 386 U.S. at 24, 87 S.Ct. 824). The focus of the harmless-error analysis is on the effect of the error on the trier of fact. Id. at 1139. Furthermore, both the per se reversible-error rule and the harmless-error rule are concerned with the due process right to a fair trial. Id. at 1135. In acknowledging the shared concern of the two rules and the relationship between the two rules, we have explained: [A] per se rule is nothing more than a determination that certain types of errors are always harmful, i.e., prejudicial. Per se reversible errors are limited to those errors which are so basic to a fair trial that their infraction can never be treated as harmless error. Chapman, 386 U.S. at 23, 87 S.Ct. at 827-28. In other words, those errors which are always harmful. The test whether a given type of error can be properly categorized as per se reversible is the harmless error test itself. If application of the test to the type of error involved will always result in a finding that the error is harmful, then it is proper to categorize the error as per se reversible. If application of the test results in a finding that the type of error involved is not always harmful, then it is improper to categorize the error as per se reversible. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d at 1135. The denial of the right to trial by jury is one type of error that has been recognized as always harmful. In Sullivan, the United States Supreme Court addressed the denial of a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial through a constitutionally deficient reasonable-doubt instruction. 508 U.S. at 276-78, 113 S.Ct. 2078. The Court concluded that the deprivation of the right to a jury verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt was structural error. Id. at 281-82, 113 S.Ct. 2078. The Court explained that the jury guarantee is a `basic protectio[n]' whose precise effects are unmeasurable, but without which a criminal trial cannot reliably serve its function. Id. at 281, 113 S.Ct. 2078 (quoting Rose, 478 U.S. at 577, 106 S.Ct. 3101). In reaching this holding, the Court also analyzed the question asked under harmless-error review and the appropriateness of such review in the case before it: Chapman itself suggests the answer. Consistent with the jury-trial guarantee, the question it instructs the reviewing court to consider is not what effect the constitutional error might generally be expected to have upon a reasonable jury, but rather what effect it had upon the guilty verdict in the case at hand. See Chapman, supra, 386 U.S. at 24, 87 S.Ct. 824 (analyzing effect of error on verdict obtained). Harmless-error review looks, we have said, to the basis on which the jury actually rested its verdict. Yates v. Evatt, 500 U.S. 391, 404, 111 S.Ct. 1884, 114 L.Ed.2d 432 (1991) (emphasis added). The inquiry, in other words, is not whether, in a trial that occurred without the error, a guilty verdict would surely have been rendered, but whether the guilty verdict actually rendered in this trial was surely unattributable to the error. That must be so, because to hypothesize a guilty verdict that was never in fact renderedno matter how inescapable the findings to support that verdict might bewould violate the jury-trial guarantee. See Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570, 578, 106 S.Ct. 3101, 92 L.Ed.2d 460 (1986); id., at 593, 106 S.Ct. 3101 (Blackmun., dissenting); Pope v. Illinois, 481 U.S. 497, 509-510, 107 S.Ct. 1918, 95 L.Ed.2d 439 (1987) (Stevens, J., dissenting). Once the proper role of an appellate court engaged in the Chapman inquiry is understood, the illogic of harmless-error review in the present case becomes evident. Since, for the reasons described above, there has been no jury verdict within the meaning of the Sixth Amendment, the entire premise of Chapman review is simply absent. There being no jury verdict of guilty-beyond-a-reasonable-doubt, the question whether the same verdict of guilty-beyond-a-reasonable-doubt would have been rendered absent the constitutional error is utterly meaningless. There is no object, so to speak, upon which harmless-error scrutiny can operate. The most an appellate court can conclude is that a jury would surely have found petitioner guilty beyond a reasonable doubtnot that the jury's actual finding of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt would surely not have been different absent the constitutional error. That is not enough. See Yates, supra, 500 U.S. at 413-414, 111 S.Ct. 1884 (Scalia, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). The Sixth Amendment requires more than appellate speculation about a hypothetical jury's action, or else directed verdicts for the State would be sustainable on appeal; it requires an actual jury finding of guilty. See Bollenbach v. United States, 326 U.S. 607, 614, 66 S.Ct. 402, 90 L.Ed. 350 (1946). Sullivan, 508 U.S. at 279-80, 113 S.Ct. 2078. While a defective reasonable-doubt instruction and the resulting denial of a jury trial is one instance in which the United States Supreme Court has found a structural defect, another situation in which other courts have found a structural defect is where a defendant has been tried without a jury and there has been no proper waiver of the right to a jury trial. At least two Florida courts have explicitly characterized such a denial of the right to trial by jury as structural error. See Gyulveszi v. State, 805 So.2d 84, 85 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (concluding that the absence of a jury-trial waiver by the defendant in writing or on the record was structural error requiring reversal); Abrams v. State, 777 So.2d 1205, 1206 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (describing the denial of a jury trial as a structural defect requiring automatic reversal). Similarly, every Florida district court of appeal has issued a decision reversing a conviction obtained without a valid waiver of a jury trial. See, e.g., Montero v. State, 780 So.2d 917, 917 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (reversing the defendant's conviction because the record failed to show that the defendant validly waived his right to a jury trial); Hyler v. State, 732 So.2d 1208, 1209 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (concluding that a conviction must be reversed where the record contained no written waiver and did not reflect an inquiry by the trial court that the defendant voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waived his right to a jury trial); Gamble v. State, 696 So.2d 420, 420 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997) (holding that the failure to inform the defendant of his right to a six-person jury and the failure to consult the defendant as to his wishes was an error for which a new trial was the only remedy); Sansom v. State, 642 So.2d 631, 631 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (finding that a new trial was necessitated by the absence of a proper waiver); Bassue v. State, 536 So.2d 1140, 1141 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988) (reversing a conviction and sentence where there was no was inquiry made of the defendant's waiver and the waiver was not an intelligent one). This Court has also approved of the reversal of a conviction obtained without a valid waiver of the right to a jury trial. See Upton, 658 So.2d at 87-88 (approving of a district court decision that reversed a defendant's conviction and sentence where the defendant's attorney, alone, waived a jury trial); Tucker, 559 So.2d at 220 (District courts have properly reversed convictions when the record contained no written waiver of a jury trial and the trial court failed to inquire into the defendant's waiver of a jury trial or conducted an insufficient inquiry. (citing Shuler v. State, 463 So.2d 464 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); Tosta v. State, 352 So.2d 526 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977))). Courts in other jurisdictions have also described the denial of the right to a jury trial as structural error. See, e.g., Miller v. Dormire, 310 F.3d 600, 604 (8th Cir. 2002) (finding that the defendant's attorney's waiver of a jury trial was structural error requiring automatic reversal of the defendant's conviction); State v. Baker, 217 Ariz. 118, 170 P.3d 727, 731 (Ct.App. 2007) (holding that where the record showed neither that the trial court explained to the defendant his right to a jury trial nor an effective waiver of the right, structural error occurred); People v. Collins, 26 Cal.4th 297, 109 Cal.Rptr.2d 836, 27 P.3d 726, 736 (2001) (finding that the trial court's improper inducement of a jury-trial waiver amounted to a structural defect); cf., e.g., Spytma v. Howes, 313 F.3d 363, 372 (6th Cir.2002) (suggesting that a jury waiver issue was arguably not subject to harmless error analysis); United States v. Duarte-Higareda, 113 F.3d 1000, 1003 (9th Cir.1997) ([W]e conclude that this error warrants reversal because the district court's failure to ensure the adequacy of [the defendant's] jury waiver affected the basic framework of [the defendant's] trial and we cannot determine whether this effect was harmless.); Edwards v. Sasser, 462 F.Supp. 374, 378 (E.D.Va.1979) (Denial of the right to trial by jury cannot be deemed harmless error.); Balbosa v. State, 275 Ga. 574, 571 S.E.2d 368, 369 (2002) (We are of the opinion that a harmless error analysis cannot be applied to a jury trial waiver.); State v. Simpson, 29 Kan.App.2d 862, 32 P.3d 1226, 1233 (2001) (declining to say that the failure to advise a defendant of the right to a twelve-person jury was harmless); State v. Hauk, 257 Wis.2d 579, 652 N.W.2d 393, 404 n. 9 (Ct.App.2002) (refusing to engage in harmless-error analysis where there was no valid jury waiver). But see, e.g., State v. Hinton, 702 N.W.2d 278, 282 (Minn.Ct.App.2005) (applying a harmless-error analysis to the admission of the defendant's prior convictions without the defendant's personal waiver of his right to a jury determination of the prior convictions); State v. Kranz, 353 N.W.2d 748, 753 (N.D.1984) (conducting a harmless-error analysis of the trial court's failure to obtain an express jury-trial waiver from the defendant). In Neder, the United States Supreme Court narrowly held that the harmless-error test of Chapman may be applied to a jury instruction that omitted an element of the offense. Neder, 527 U.S. at 4, 119 S.Ct. 1827. Specifically, the Court held that the harmless-error rule applied to the trial court's erroneous refusal to submit the issue of materiality, as an element of the charge of tax fraud, to the jury. Id. [9] The Court reasoned that an instruction that omits an element of the offense does not necessarily render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair or an unreliable vehicle for determining guilt or innocence. Id. at 9, 119 S.Ct. 1827. [10] The Court also explained that its conclusion was consistent with the holding (if not the entire reasoning) of Sullivan v. Louisiana .  Neder, 527 U.S. at 10, 119 S.Ct. 1827. The Court observed that unlike the error in Sullivan, the error in the case before it did not vitiat[e] all the jury's findings. Neder, 527 U.S. at 11, 119 S.Ct. 1827 (quoting Sullivan, 508 U.S. at 281, 113 S.Ct. 2078). Justice Scalia, joined by Justices Souter and Ginsburg, dissented from the harmless-error portion of the Court's decision in Neder because he believe[d] that depriving a criminal defendant of the right to have the jury determine his guilt of the crime chargedwhich necessarily means his commission of every element of the crime chargedcan never be harmless. Neder, 527 U.S. at 30, 119 S.Ct. 1827 (Scalia, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). Justice Scalia explained, Harmless-error review applies only when the jury actually renders a verdictthat is, when it has found the defendant guilty of all the elements of the crime. Id. at 38, 119 S.Ct. 1827. I acknowledge that this Court has subsequently relied on Neder to decide whether a  Gaudin error was subject to harmless-error review. See Harbaugh, 754 So.2d at 694. In Harbaugh, this Court addressed whether the bifurcated procedure of State v. Rodriguez, 575 So.2d 1262 (Fla.1991), [11] should be amended in light of Gaudin. Harbaugh, 754 So.2d at 692. This Court found that it should be amended: Examining the Rodriguez bifurcated trial process in felony DUI prosecutions in light of Gaudin, we hold that in this bifurcated process the jury, not the judge, must determine the verdict from the evidence presented in the second phase. Harbaugh, 754 So.2d at 694. In addition to this holding, this Court concluded that, in accord with Neder, a Gaudin error is subject to harmless error review. Harbaugh, 754 So.2d at 694. Although this Court decided in Harbaugh that harmless-error analysis should apply to the denial of a jury trial on one of the elements of felony DUI, I now believe that we erred in so holding. That decision has started us down a slippery slope that unnecessarily undermines one of our most valued rights. Who knows where this may lead. As noted above, I would adopt the well-reasoned view of Justice Shaw in Harbaugh, which distinguishes the circumstances of Neder from those in Harbaugh and this case. By adopting Justice Shaw's view we may not be fully honoring the fundamental right to trial by jury as contemplated by Justice Scalia, but we will at least be limiting the damage done to its invocation in Neder.