Court Opinion

ID: 9457799
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 20:33:26.578481+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:35:30.538247
License: Public Domain

LAY, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
The majority opinion finds that the narrow exception carved out in Britt v. North Carolina, 404 U.S. 226, 92 S.Ct. 431, 30 L.Ed.2d 400 (1971), supports the trial judge’s refusal to provide the defendant with a full transcript of the prior trial. I disagree. My understanding of the Britt decision brings me to an opposite conclusion. The Supreme Court in Britt based its result upon the petitioner’s concession “that he had available an informal alternative which appears to be substantially equivalent to a transcript.” The concession was that the court reporter was a good friend of petitioner’s counsel and would have at any time, “well in advance ,of the second trial,” read back his notes upon an informal request to do so.
There is no evidence of such circumstance here; nor does there exist any concession by the defendant that there was available an equivalent alternative to a transcript. My real difficulty with this ease is that the bases upon which the district court refused the transcript here are the specific grounds rejected by the Supreme Court in the Britt opinion. The district court held that the court did not deem it necessary for the defendant to have a transcript because
(1) it was a one day trial;
(2) there is “no forgetting on the part of witnesses”;
(3) there is no indication of any impeachment by reason of any perjury committed by government witnesses; and
(4) the district court further held that if during the course of trial counsel for defendant requires the notes for cross examination the reporter can read the testimony back to him.
These reasons are specifically discounted in Britt. Mr. Justice Marshall writing for the majority there stated: (1) “Our cases have consistently recognized the value to a defendant of a transcript of prior proceedings without requiring a showing of need tailored to the facts of the particular case”; (2) “We have repeatedly rejected the suggestion that in order to render effective assistance, counsel must have a perfect memory or keep exhaustive notes of the testimony given at trial”; (3) in addition to impeachment a prior transcript serves the purpose of “a discovery device in preparation for trial”; (4) “Moreover, we doubt it would suffice to provide the defendant with limited access to the court reporter during the course of the second trial.” This approach is “ ‘too little and too late.’ ”1 The district court, in light *1115of Britt, cannot be sustained on the reasons stated in the record.
This then requires examination as to whether other circumstances justified the district court’s refusal. The majority feels some exist. I again disagree with this analysis.
It is true that petitioner’s counsel did not formally apply for a free transcript until March 9, two days before the trial. However, the district court made it clear that counsel called him on March 5 (the court and counsel were in different cities) and told him of defendant’s indigent circumstances and that he felt it necessary to have a full transcript. The court on March 5 told him he was going to deny this request but that he would appoint him to serve as counsel under the Criminal Justice Act.
The other circumstances relied upon by the majority are that (1) the government did produce the transcript of three witnesses “sometime before the second trial commenced” and (2) at no time during the second trial did the defendant’s counsel indicate to the court that he believed there was any inconsistency in the witnesses’ testimony or avail himself of the opportunity to have the court reporter read back the testimony.
The defendant states and the government conceded at oral argument that this testimony of three witnesses was not furnished until March 11, the morning trial commenced; that defendant’s counsel had to pay for the transcript from his own personal funds; and that the transcript had been ordered and obtained by the government immediately following the first mistrial unknown to the defendant.
The reasoning by the majority that the defendant did not seek to impeach the witnesses or request the court reporter to read back the testimony, as specifically rejected by the Britt decision, is not sufficient grounds to deny availability of the full transcript. The use of such a transcript for leads to other evidence is reason enough for its unrestricted availability. The fact that the government wanted parts of it before trial (undoubtedly to go over the testimony with the witnesses) demonstrates that the transcript serves more than one purpose. Any trial lawyer who retries even a simple, uncomplicated factual situation, criminal or civil, would be considered almost derelict in his duty not to review the prior testimony of the witnesses. Reflective study, in advance of trial, oftentimes leads to counsel’s initiative to uncover new evidence or to utilize more persuasive approaches in both direct and cross examination.2
“Similarly, while counsel is studying mistrial minutes, the precise words used by a witness might trigger mental processes resulting in legitimate defense strategies which otherwise might be overlooked. Such spontaneity can hardly be forecast and articulated in advance in terms of special or particularized need.” 404 U.S. at 234, 235, 92 S.Ct. at 437.
Furthermore, I respectfully adopt defendant counsel’s statement here that those portions of the transcript the government desired do not necessarily represent the most helpful or desired testimony for preparation by the defense. There were sixteen witnesses altogether. Although the trial took only one day, the government concedes it is a “long record.” It is my judgment the defense was entitled to the full testimony and that availability of part of the testimony on the morning of trial was not sufficient to overcome the government’s advantage of its earlier access to it. Furthermore, Mayer v. City of Chicago, 404 U.S. 189, 92 S.Ct. 410, 30 L.Ed.2d 372 (1971), decided the same date as Britt, holds that the state bears the burden of showing that only a portion of the transcript will suffice for an effective appellate review. The same rule should apply here. Yet here there has been no showing whatsoever.
This was a close case on the evidence. There were many inconsistencies in the witnesses’ testimony. A jury could not reach a verdict after the first trial. I *1116am confident any lawyer who represented a client able to purchase a full transcript of an earlier trial would have urged him to do so. The only reason this was not done here was because the defendant could not personally pay for it. The government could and did. Such a mismatch in my judgment entitles the defendant to a new and fairer trial than the one which he has had.
I would reverse and remand for a new trial.

. The most embarrassing and often devastating experience a trial lawyer can undergo is to attempt to impeacli a witness by having the court reporter read back prior testimony, only to find that what the witness has just said is what lie had always said. See United States ex rel. Wilson v. McMann, 408 F.2d 896 (2 Cir. 1969).

. As Mr. Justice Douglas said in dissent to Britt: