Opinion ID: 1135841
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The second murder

Text: Defendants committed the fifth burglary on March 22, 1991. The target was Jim McClain, a sixty-five-year-old retiree who restored cars for a hobby. McClain was targeted because Hedlund had bought a car from him some months earlier and thought McClain had money at his house. Entry was gained through an open window late at night while McClain was sleeping. Hedlund brought along his .22 rifle, which he had sawed-off to facilitate concealment. Defendants ransacked the front part of the house then moved to the bedroom. While he was sleeping, McClain was shot in the back of the head with Hedlund's rifle. Defendants then ransacked the bedroom, taking a pocket watch and three hand guns; they also stole McClain's car. State v. Hedlund TRIAL ISSUES A. Was Hedlund denied his right to counsel? Hedlund claims that a hearing conducted in the absence of one of his attorneys was structural error requiring automatic reversal and violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel because the hearing was a critical stage of the proceedings. At trial, Lemon was called as one of the state's witnesses. After Lemon provided some preliminary testimony, a brief recess was called and a hearing conducted out of the jury's presence to determine if Lemon could be impeached with his juvenile record. One of Hedlund's lawyers, Mr. Leander, stepped out of the courtroom because he was not feeling well. While still on the record, the judge allowed Mr. Allen, McKinney's counsel, to question Lemon under Ariz.R.Evid. 609. [2] Lemon had previously been interviewed by all attorneys involved, and no evidence of any juvenile adjudications ever surfaced. The prosecutor told Defendants' attorneys that Lemon had no juvenile convictions, but neither counsel was satisfied and wanted to question him again. While Mr. Leander was out of the courtroom, Lemon testified to having once been formally charged as a juvenile for aggravated battery. Lemon testified that he had gone before a judge on this charge, but that he never had a hearing where witnesses were called, never pleaded guilty, and had not been adjudicated. Lemon also testified that he was placed under house arrest for two weeks. Although Lemon's encounter with the juvenile justice system is not well explained in the record, it appears that Lemon was present, but not involved, when another juvenile was beaten by some other person, and that the juvenile judge ordered Lemon to serve some in-home detention and required him to get a job or go back to school. At the conclusion of Mr. Allen's examination and the state's cross-examination of Lemon, no evidence of any adjudication had been presented. Thus, the judge ruled that Lemon could not be impeached with his juvenile record. When the trial resumed a few minutes later, Mr. Leander had returned and objected to the hearing having taken place without him. The judge refused to re-open the hearing unless Mr. Leander was prepared to introduce substantive evidence of juvenile adjudications. Mr. Leander had no such evidence and stated that he would like to question Lemon. The judge refused to allow any more questioning, concluding that Messrs. Leander and Allen had an identity of interest, that Mr. Allen had adequately explored the issue, and that in doing so had discovered no evidence of a juvenile adjudication. Whether counsel's absence during a hearing violates the Sixth Amendment depends on whether the absence created a structural defect. See Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 309-10, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 1265, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991). This determination may turn on whether the hearing was a critical stage of the adversary proceedings. See United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 658-59, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 2046-47, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984); United States v. Olano, 62 F.3d 1180, 1193 (9th Cir.1995); United States v. Benlian, 63 F.3d 824, 827 (9th Cir.1995).
A structural defect is an error that affects the framework within which the trial proceeds, rather than simply an error in the trial process itself. Fulminante, 499 U.S. at 309-10, 111 S.Ct. at 1264-65. In general, per se structural defects affect [t]he entire conduct of the trial from beginning to end.... Id. at 310, 111 S.Ct. at 1265 (emphasis added). Such defects include total deprivation of counsel, a judge who is not impartial, unlawful exclusion of jurors who are of the defendant's race from a grand jury, denial of the right to self-representation, and denial of the right to a public trial. Id. Hedlund does not claim, and the record does not show, that he suffered anything approaching a total absence of counsel. Accordingly, there is no per se structural defect. Therefore, Hedlund is entitled to Cronic' s presumption of prejudice only if the Rule 609 hearing was a critical stage of the trial. See Benlian, 63 F.3d at 827.
A critical stage is one at which substantial rights of the accused may be affected. State v. Conner, 163 Ariz. 97, 104, 786 P.2d 948, 955 (1990); Menefield v. Borg, 881 F.2d 696, 698 (9th Cir.1989) (quoting Mempa v. Rhay, 389 U.S. 128, 134, 88 S.Ct. 254, 257, 19 L.Ed.2d 336 (1967)) ([C]ounsel ... is required at every stage of a criminal proceeding where substantial rights of a criminal accused may be affected.) (sentencing). Whether a particular proceeding is a critical stage may depend on state law as well as the facts of the case. See Chester v. California, 355 F.2d 778, 779 (9th Cir.1966) (An accused has a constitutional right to [counsel] at a preliminary examination in a state court if, under facts of the particular case, the examination is a [critical stage].). The test for a critical stage is based on the following factors: First, if failure to pursue strategies or remedies results in a loss of significant rights.... Second, where skilled counsel would be useful in helping the accused understand the legal confrontation.... Third, ... if the proceeding tests the merits of the accused's case. Menefield, 881 F.2d at 698-99 (citations omitted). Hedlund offers no authority, and research reveals none, to support his contention that a Rule 609 hearing is necessarily a critical stage of the trial under Arizona law. [3] Thus, under the facts of this case, we conclude that the Rule 609 hearing was not a critical stage of Hedlund's proceedings. B. Denial of confrontation Hedlund also claims that the refusal to let his attorney question Lemon at the hearing was a denial of the right to confrontation and that such denial prevented impeaching Lemon with his juvenile record. Hedlund argues that his right to confrontation is paramount to the state's interest in protecting Lemon as a juvenile offender-witness. See Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974); State v. McDaniel, 127 Ariz. 13, 617 P.2d 1129 (1980). In the abstract we agree with Hedlund's proposition, but we find his argument inapplicable to the facts of his case because Hedlund and his lawyer were present when Lemon testified and the lawyer was permitted to and did examine Lemon. Hedlund's complaint here is confined to the lawyer's absence at a hearing much like a motion in limine. Hedlund, however, has never proffered any evidence to show that Lemon had any juvenile adjudication, let alone one with which he could have been impeached. Indeed, as late as oral arguments in this court, Hedlund's counsel possessed no evidence that Lemon had ever been adjudicated as a juvenile. Furthermore, Lemon was not an accomplice in the crimes, was never charged, and was never offered immunity for his testimony. He was eighteen years old at trial and therefore could not have been on juvenile probation at the time of the trial. See Ariz. Const. art. VI, § 15. In sum, Hedlund fails to demonstrate how Lemon's juvenile record could have been used for anything other than a general attack on his character. See State v. Morales, 120 Ariz. 517, 520-21, 587 P.2d 236, 239-40 (1978); cf. McDaniel, 127 Ariz. at 15-16, 617 P.2d at 1131-32. We refuse to speculate whether Hedlund's lawyer would have discovered something at the Rule 609 hearing that McKinney's lawyer could not and did not and that neither lawyer has discovered to this day.