Court Opinion

ID: 9773397
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:44:35.723916+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:53.303006
License: Public Domain

Steele Hays, Justice, dissenting. In Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477 (1981), the Supreme Court adopted the bright-line principle that an accused who has invoked his right to have counsel present during custodial investigation, or has expressed his desire to deal with the police only through counsel, is not subject to further interrogation by the authorities unless the accused himself initiates further conversations with the police. That rule, though well settled, has little relevancy to this case, however, because there is no proof the appellant ever invoked either his right to remain silent or his right to have counsel present before being questioned. In fact the appellant did not even testify at the suppression hearing, nor, for that matter, at trial. The only witness at the suppression hearing was Sheriff Powell, and while he was aware that Mr. Charles LeCompte, a Springfield, Missouri, attorney, represented appellant, there was no proof that Mr. LeCompte ever had communicated with Sheriff Powell, or instructed him not to speak to appellant except through him. Thus, if appellant’s contention that his 5th and 6th amendment rights were violated is to prevail, it must be on the strength of Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625, 106 S. Ct. 1404 (1986). The two cases are clearly distinguishable. In Jackson, the accused expressly requested the appointment of counsel at his arraignment on a murder charge, which was attended by the police officers involved in the investigation. Notwithstanding that explicit request, two police officers visited the accused the next morning at the jail and, after explaining his Miranda rights, obtained a confession from him. The accused was not told that counsel had been appointed, although he had inquired several times since his arraignment. On these facts the Michigan Supreme Court concluded that the Edwards rule applies by analogy to those situations where the accused requests counsel before the arraigning magistrate. “ ‘The police cannot simply ignore a defendant’s unequivocal request for counsel.’ ” Michigan v. Jackson, supra, citing People v. Bladel, 421 Mich. 39, 66-67, 365 N.W.2d 56, 69 (1984). The United States Supreme Court affirmed. I have no quarrel with the decision in Michigan v. Jackson, but I think it is a mistake to extend it beyond its own facts and especially to the facts in this case. There is not the slightest indication that appellant had requested the appointment of counsel at arraignment, either here or in Missouri, or, for that matter how Mr. LeCompte came to represent him. Nor, as I have noted, is there any evidence that appellant informed anyone that he wanted to communicate only through LeCompte. The fact is Mr. LeCompte’s status in the case is something of a mystery. He was shown as receiving several information copies of filings by the state, and he approved a joint order dealing with trial scheduling, but he filed no motions and, significantly, never entered his appearance on behalf of the appellant nor was he even shown to be counsel of record. Yet, on that very ambiguous status the majority holds that Michigan v. Jackson prevents appellant from being asked in what seems to have been a thoroughly casual way if he wanted to discuss the case. I suggest that today’s decision will prove a boon to those who have easy access to the criminal defense bar but of little help to those who are dependent on court appointed counsel. 1 La Fave, Criminal Procedure, § 6.4(e) (1984). And see Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 106 S.Ct. 1135 (1986), holding that 6th amendment right to counsel attaches at the time formal charges are initiated and not by virtue of an existing attorney-client relationship. “[A]s a practical matter it makes little sense to say that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches at different times depending on the fortuity of whether the suspect or his family happens to have retained counsel prior to interrogation.” Id. There is another, equally compelling reason to affirm. Even if the admission of the statement could somehow be regarded as error, it is clear there was no prejudice in this case. Appellant’s statement simply admitted he was with John Moss and R.B. Smith1 at the time of the robbery. But that fact was wholly undisputed. The defense called no witnesses. Appellant’s sister testified, with obvious reluctance, that immediately after the robbery Moss and Smith brought her brother to the trailer; that Smith was driving her brother’s car, and both Moss and appellant were badly wounded. She nursed appellant until a rescue unit arrived to remove him to a Springfield, Missouri, hospital. Lucille Day and Bobby Day testified that appellant, John Moss and R.B. Smith were together on August 28,1981, just before the robbery. They said the three men were in appellant’s car. Photographs of blood stains in appellant’s car were also introduced. A physician and a nurse from the Springfield hospital testified to having surgically removed a lead cartridge from appellant on August 30, 1981. The cartridge was shown to have come from the pistol the victim was using at the time of the robbery. Thus, the admission of a statement by appellant that he was with Moss and Smith at the time of the robbery in the face of proof which can only be characterized as overwhelming and undisputed, was plainly harmless. We have said that where the proof of guilt is overwhelming, the requirement of prejudicial error increases accordingly. Novak v. State, 287 Ark. 271, 698 S.W.2d 499 (1985). Berna v. State, 282 Ark. 563, 670 S.W.2d 434 (1984) cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1085 (1985). Even constitutional errors may be cured where proof of guilt is so convincing that it can be said the error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Harrington v. California, 395 U.S. 250 (1969); Snell v. State, 290 Ark. 503, 721 S.W.2d 628 (1986). The trial court should be affirmed. Hickman, J., joins this dissent.   Moss and Smith had been previously convicted of the crime.