Opinion ID: 1769614
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Tenth Circuit

Text: The Tenth Circuit holds unequivocally to a standard of mockery, sham or farce. Johnson v. United States, 380 F.2d 810 (10th Cir.1967).
It is evident from the foregoing survey of the holdings of the various circuits that they are fairly evenly divided. However, the trend appears to be away from the farce and mockery rule, and the better reasoned cases seem to support a more stringent standard. While it necessarily follows that if a criminal trial becomes a farce and mockery because of the conduct of inept counsel, there has been a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel. However, from that it does not necessarily follow that the representation must be so ineffectual as to make it a farce and a mockery, in order for there to be a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. We depart from the farce and mockery standard. All cases adhering to this standard are overruled, pro tanto. We believe a better standard, expressed in the generalities of McMann, supra , is simply whether the advice given, or the services rendered by the attorney, are within the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases. We would measure that range of competence by the duties and criteria as set forth in DeCoster, supra , and by our own Sixth Circuit case of Beasley, supra . We do not consider it to be either necessary or proper, that we establish any precise nomenclature or that we lay down any specific standards or guidelines. We are content to leave the matter resting on a foundation of reasonable competence as tested by the authorities as herein set out. Trial courts and defense counsel should look to and be guided by the American Bar Association's Standards relating to the Administration of Criminal Justice in general, and specifically to those portions of the Standards which relate to the Defense Function. This opinion to this point, has been concerned with the holdings of various federal courts; and therefore, to decisions applying the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Article 1, section 9 of the Constitution of Tennessee provides, in pertinent part: (t)hat in all criminal prosecutions, the accused hath the right to be heard by himself and his counsel; . .. The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. These two constitutional provisions are identical in import with the result that a denial of the Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel is simultaneously a denial of the right to be heard by counsel, as provided under the Constitution of Tennessee.
We now consider the question of whether privately retained counsel is subject to the same standards of competence as appointed counsel. In an unbroken line of Tennessee cases, starting with State v. Bomar, 213 Tenn. 699, 378 S.W.2d 772 (1964), and running through Long v. State, 510 S.W.2d 83 (Tenn.Cr.App. 1974), our courts have held that the incompetence of privately retained counsel is imputable to the defendant and not to the State. And, therefore, the requisite state action to the successful invocation of defendant's rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is absent. In Davis v. Bomar, 344 F.2d 84 (6th Cir.1965), the Court held in substance, that when counsel is retained by the defendant to represent him in a criminal case, he acts in no sense as an officer of the state; and therefore, there was no constitutional deprivation. In Woodall v. Neil, 444 F.2d 92 (6th Cir.1971), the same court held that [u]nder some circumstances, ... failure of retained counsel can be such as to deprive an accused of his constitutional right to counsel. This decision was predicated, in part, on Goodwin v. Cardwell, 432 F.2d 521 (6th Cir.1970), wherein the Court held that failure of retained counsel to advise a convicted person of his right to appeal constituted a violation of his right to the effective assistance of counsel, warranting federal habeas corpus relief. It should be stated that there was a strong dissent in Goodwin, and in Roddy v. State of Tennessee, 366 F. Supp. 33 (E.D. Tenn. 1973), Judge Wilson took strong exception to the soundness of these latter two cases, but considered himself to be bound by them. The Eighth Circuit makes no distinction between the constitutional standards to be applied as between retained and appointed counsel. Garton v. Swenson, supra . In United States v. Marshall, 488 F.2d 1169, 1193 (9th Cir.1974), the Court after observing that one of the reasons advanced for not applying the same standard to retained counsel is the fact that the defendant selects his own counsel, and is bound by what he does, the Court said that this theory: (B)reaks down in the face of the fact that most criminal defendants who can retain counsel are not in any position to judge the competence of the lawyer whom they hire. They have to take him on faith  in reliance on the fact that he has been admitted to practice. Unfortunately, that fact does not guarantee that he is competent to defend criminal case. Most of the recent cases have held that competence of counsel is to be judged by the same standard, whether counsel be appointed or retained. In the earlier case of Wilson v. Rose, 366 F.2d 611 (9th Cir.1966) the Court said: Appellee's right was not diminished, nor his remedy barred, for want of State action. Appellee was not charged, convicted and punished by private individuals, but by the State. It was the State which sought to deprive him of his liberty, and he was entitled to the effective assistance of counsel in meeting the State's challenge. Id. at 615 Further the Court made this significant comment: It also makes no difference whether counsel was retained or appointed by the court ... Id. Then the Court holds: A contrary rule would have the anomalous effect of diminishing only the rights of those who undertake to bear the cost of their own representation, for it is clear that defendants have a remedy if they leave it to the State to compensate counsel. Id. at 616 In Fitzgerald v. Beto, 479 F.2d 420 (5th Cir.1973), the Court declared the law in this circuit to be: (T)hat the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment assure a state defendant effective representation by counsel whether the attorney is one of his choosing or court-appointed .. . Id. at 423 This case is bottomed on the most articulate opinion of the Fifth Circuit speaking through Judge Wisdom, in West v. Louisiana, 478 F.2d 1026 (5 Cir.1973), wherein the Court held that the constitutional standards applied equally in the case of court appointed as well as privately retained counsel. In arriving at this decision, the Court quoted at length from Professor James R. Craig's article, The Right to Adequate Representation in the Criminal Process: Some Observations, 22 S.W.L.J. 260, 272 (1968) as follows: Early lower court decisions on effectiveness of counsel often drew distinctions between retained and appointed counsel, with the work of retained counsel being virtually immune from review. That seems now, at least doctrinally, to be a thing of the past. The distinction was supported, or explained, on two discrete grounds. The latter in time was that the state action required to energize the fourteenth amendment prohibitions was not present where review of the work of retained counsel was sought. That concept was subject to the obvious criticism that what was really being claimed was that the trial at the hands of the state was unfair, although caused by something over which the state ostensibly had no direct control. A useful analogy existed in the mob influence cases, where the existence of the requisite state action was not questioned. (citations omitted) Further, the state action theory was attacked by the argument that the necessary state action could be found in the fact that attorneys were licensed by the state. But the state action concept of old, no matter what its past vitality, has little influence today. (Referencing Shelley v. Kraemer and its progeny). Perhaps the more viable explanation of the distinction was the earlier one that referred to a principal-agent relationship between defendant and defender. That explanation was forcefully attacked as simply unrealistic in fact in most cases. Whatever the rationale, if the distinction had not been discarded before Gideon, Massiah, and Escobedo, it would seem now to be effectively foreclosed. (Referencing basis of Gideon that a man is not competent to represent himself at trial and therefore would seem to be incompetent to evaluate his lawyer's actions). See also Williams, The Twilight of State Action, 41 Tex.L.Rev. 347 (1963). The language of the Fourth Circuit in Shiflett v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 433 F.2d 124 (4th Cir.1970) is appropriate: The notion that state participation, state action or state default is an essential element of a case for relief in this situation confuses a case in which denial of a right of appeal constitutes a denial of equal protection or a violation of due process with one, like the instant case, in which the right denied is the right to effective assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. In the latter case no element of state involvement need be proved to warrant relief. Id. at 127-28 We are persuaded by these cases, and others cited therein, that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is not necessarily dependent upon state action. We hold that the standards herein discussed, relating to the effective assistance of counsel, apply with equal force to privately retained counsel and counsel appointed to represent the indigent. Constitutional rights are not the exclusive domain of the poor and the profligate. It is paradoxical indeed, that Tennessee cases discussing this issue have completely ignored Article 1, section 9 of the Constitution of Tennessee, which guarantees the right to effective counsel in the courts of Tennessee. The question of state action is not involved. We abolish all distinction between the quality and character of services rendered by counsel irrespective of the source of their selection, appointment or compensation. All cases contra are overruled.
In the case at bar, petitioner has represented to the Court in his pro se petition, that his attorneys were guilty of grievous acts of misconduct. It would serve no useful purpose to detail these charges in this opinion. Suffice it to say, they were sufficient to raise a serious constitutional question  federal and state  as to the effective assistance of counsel. The trial judge ruled upon this petition without an evidentiary hearing and without appointing counsel to represent the indigent petitioner. While we do not censure him for doing so in the face of the fact that the two attorneys involved enjoy exemplary professional reputations, and normally practice before the trial judge who most assuredly knows their reputations, the fact remains that it was error to dismiss these charges without an evidentiary hearing and without the appointment of counsel. We do not regard the allegations as being merely conclusory as held by the Court of Criminal Appeals. Moreover, it must be borne in mind that they were not prepared by counsel, but by a layman unlearned in the law. The allegations of a pro se complaint are held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers, and the test is whether it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. John v. Hurt, 489 F.2d 786 (7th Cir.1973). We cannot say, as a matter of law, that it appears beyond doubt that petitioner can prove no set of facts entitling him to relief. The ABA Standards, Post Conviction Remedies, Section 4.4A provide: (I)t is most desirable to avoid processing of applications for post conviction relief beyond the initial screening of the documents without counsel representing the applicant. Counsel should be provided for pro se applicants unable to afford adequate representation. Section 4.6 provides: (A) plenary hearing to receive evidence, by testimony or otherwise, is required whenever there are material questions of fact which must be resolved in order to determine the sufficiency of the application for relief. The Tennessee Post Conviction Procedure Act, as incorporated in Section 40-3801 et seq. T.C.A., obviously contemplates an evidentiary hearing except in those cases wherein a competently drafted petition and all pleadings, files and records of the case, conclusively show that the petitioner is entitled to no relief. A petition alleging sufficient facts to establish petitioner's conviction was void because of an alleged denial of constitutional rights, state or federal, necessitates an evidentiary hearing. Moran v. State, 3 Tenn.Cr.App. 118, 457 S.W.2d 886 (1970). From this day forward we will apply the standards, guidelines and criteria herein set forth. The judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals is reversed and this case is remanded to the Circuit Court at Jackson, with instructions to conduct a full evidentiary hearing on the issues presented by the pleadings. FONES, C.J., and COOPER, BROCK and HARBISON, JJ., concur.