Court Opinion

ID: 9855047
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:18:36.940131+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:23:39.232632
License: Public Domain

SNYDER, J.
¶ 30. (dissenting). The majority opinion points out that in construing Wisconsin's pro*431hibition against double jeopardy, we are guided by the rulings of the United States Supreme Court. State v. Barthels, 174 Wis. 2d 173, 181, 495 N.W.2d 341 (1993). The seminal United States Supreme Court double jeopardy case addressing improper opening statements by defense counsel is Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497 (1978). Because the trial court's grant of the prosecution's motion for mistrial, over Seefeldt's objection, is constitutionally firm under Washington, I respectfully dissent. I would affirm Seefeldt's conviction and the trial court's order denying double jeopardy relief.
¶ 31. In Washington, the trial judge granted the prosecutor's motion for a mistrial predicated on improper and prejudicial comment during defense counsel's opening statement to the jury. Id. at 510. A retrial of Washington was denied in response to his habeas corpus petition alleging double jeopardy protections. Id. at 498. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed, holding that where a mistrial is granted because the defendant's attorney made improper and prejudicial remarks during his opening statement to the jury, a trial judge's mistrial determination is entitled to "special respect." Id. at 510.
¶ 32. Washington argued (as does Seefeldt) that the evidence referenced in his opening statement was proper and admissible as a matter of law, but the Supreme Court regarded the issue as foreclosed by Washington's failure to proffer sufficient support for his contention of admissibility and by the Arizona state court's interpretation of its own law. Id. at 510-11. After giving "special respect" to the trial court's determination, the Supreme Court addressed the double *432jeopardy issue from the premise that defense counsel's comment was improper and may have affected the impartiality of the jury. Id.
¶ 33. The Washington Court recognized that the extent of possible jury bias cannot be measured, and acknowledged that some trial judges might have proceeded with the trial after giving the jury appropriate cautionary instructions. Id. at 511. The Court then stated:
In a strict, literal sense, the mistrial was not "necessary." Nevertheless, the overriding interest in the evenhanded administration of justice requires that we accord the highest degree of respect to the trial judge's evaluation of the likelihood that the impartiality of one or more jurors may have been affected by the improper comment.

Id.

¶ 34. The Court found that the compelling reasons for allowing a trial judge broad discretion in determining "manifest necessity" in deadlocked jury cases also would apply to improper defense counsel opening statements:
We are persuaded that, along the spectrum of trial problems which may warrant a mistrial and which vary in their amenability to appellate scrutiny, the difficulty which led to the mistrial in this case also falls in an area where the judge's determination is entitled to special respect.
In this case the trial judge ordered a mistrial because the defendant's lawyer made improper and prejudicial remarks during his opening statement to the jury.
Id. at 510.
*433¶ 35 The Washington Court recognized that an improper opening statement unquestionably tends to frustrate the public interest in having a just judgment reached and that such statements create a risk that the entire jury panel may be tainted. Id. at 512. It related that while the trial judge may instruct the jury to disregard the improper comment or, in extreme cases, discipline counsel (as here, with the tacit approval of the majority opinion), or even remove offending counsel from the trial:1
[t]hose actions, however, will not necessarily remove the risk of bias that may be created by improper argument. Unless unscrupulous defense counsel are to be allowed an unfair advantage, the trial judge must have the power to declare a mistrial in appropriate cases. The interest in orderly, impartial procedure would be impaired if [the trial judge] were deterred from exercising that power by a concern that anytime a reviewing court disagreed with his [or her] assessment of the trial situation a retrial would automatically be barred.
Id. at 513.
¶ 36. The Washington case law applicable here is that a trial court's decision to declare a mistrial on its assessment of the prejudicial impact of the content of improper defense opening statements is entitled to great deference; a trial court must exercise sound discretion in declaring a mistrial and the trial court cannot act irrationally or irresponsibly. Id. at 514. *434Therefore, granting the trial court great deference, we now look to this record to determine if there was an erroneous exercise of discretion.
¶ 37. The dilemma created by Carroll's opening statement to the jury is evident from the record. The prosecutor was not concerned about the jury knowing that Michelle Bart was the subject of outstanding warrants when she fled the police, telling the trial court that "the fact of the matter is that of the warrants that were outstanding, because there were, I don't deny the truth of that, but they were ordinance violations, at least the greatest number of them, okay." (Emphasis added.) Carroll knew that when Bart testified she would have to admit to six prior criminal convictions as mandated by Wis. Stat. § 906.09. Carroll informed the jury that Bart had "15 warrants for her arrest that were out there from around the state of Wisconsin, mostly from writing bad checks in places." (Emphasis added.) The prosecution objected to that statement and immediately moved for a mistrial.
¶ 38. The prosecution's motion for a mistrial was premised upon Carroll placing the State in a position of having to convince the jury that Bart, while admitting that she had six prior criminal convictions pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 906.09, was not a candidate for an additional fifteen criminal convictions based upon the existing warrants. In context, the prosecutor told the trial court:
Now I'm going to have to defend... when [Bart] testifies, have you been convicted of a crime, she would have to answer according to what the criminal record and history shows.... But it does not include any convictions for the [15] matters that [Carroll] just brought up.
¶ 39. Carroll conceded that a secondary purpose in telling the jury the number and reasons for the *435existence of the warrants was to suggest to the jury that the warrants impugned Bart's credibility. Carroll argued that'"[i]t's not other act evidence if she can explain on the witness stand these were had check warrants from municipalities."2 (Emphasis added.) In other words, Carroll's purpose was to place Bart in a position where she would have to testify extensively as to the extraneous background concerning each of the existing warrants, a purpose unnecessary to use of the outstanding warrants as defense evidence of motive to flee.
¶ 40. The trial court, after hearing extensive argument as to the impact of Carroll's jury statement to the jury, specifically found that Carroll's opening statement to the jury was improper: "Now [Mr. Carroll] what you have done is you have opened a can of worms on the State's witness3 by saying these warrants were outstanding for her writing bad checks, and that's improper, and you know that." (Emphasis added.)
¶ 41. In addition to finding that Carroll's opening statement was improper, the trial court found that "[t]he question is whether or not [Carroll's opening statement] so taints these proceedings at this point that the Court should grant the State's motion for a mistrial. *436I don't know of any way of curing this situation. I don't know of any curative instruction that the Court can give to tell [the jury] to disregard what's been said." Washington speaks to this trial court finding as well:
*435You will hear from Ms. Bart_She is a person who you will hear about and obviously recognize, in terms of her dress, has been held accountable for her actions. She will tell you that she saw Mr. Seefeldt sell cocaine. She will tell you that she saw Mr. Seefeldt bring five pounds of marijuana to this community.
*436There are compelling institutional considerations militating in favor of appellate deference to the trial judge's evaluation of the significance of possible juror bias. He [or she] has seen and heard the jurors during their voir dire examination. He [or she] is the judge most familiar with the evidence and the background of the case on trial. He [or she] has listened to the tone of the argument as it was delivered and has observed the apparent reaction of the jurors. In short, he [or she] is far more "conversant with the factors relevant to the determination" than any reviewing court can possibly be.
Washington, 434 U.S. at 513-14 (citation omitted; footnote omitted).
¶ 42. The trial court's familiarity with pretrial orders, and the prior discussions and understandings as to the production and admissibility of evidence to the jury, are part of "the background of the case on trial."
¶ 43. The majority opinion reverses the judgment and order because of a failure to demonstrate a manifest necessity for a mistrial at the first trial. Majority at ¶ 29. In Washington, the trial court failed to make an explicit finding of "manifest necessity." The United States Supreme Court held that an explicit finding of "manifest necessity" was not necessary and that "[s]ince the record provides sufficient justification for the state-court ruling, the failure to explain that ruling more completely does not render it constitutionally defective." Washington, 434 U.S. at 516-17.
¶ 44. Here, as in Washington, the trial record provides sufficient justification for the trial court's *437double jeopardy ruling. Because the ruling is constitutionally firm, I would affirm the judgment and order.

 The trial court removed Carroll as Seefeldt's counsel and the removal is raised in Seefeldt's second appellate issue. Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 513 (1978), recognizes the removal option as being within the exercise of the trial court's "special respect" discretion and, therefore, it would be part and parcel of Seefeldt's double jeopardy claim under the Washington analysis.

 Contrary to the majority opinion's insistence that Bart's issuance of bad checks was not Wis. Stat. § 904.04(2) "other acts" evidence, apparently Carroll was convinced that the bad checks represented "other acts" evidence when he told the jury about them, and later when he argued the propriety of his opening statement to the trial court.

 The prosecutor had told the jury in opening statements: