Court Opinion

ID: 9703286
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:50:08.387361+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:47.116394
License: Public Domain

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J.
(dissenting). As I read the maj ority opinion, it holds: The criminal defendant has a federal constitutional due process right to testify in her own behalf. The decision whether to testify should be made by the defendant personally after consultation with counsel. Although the right to testify is “important,” it is not so “fundamental” that it “can only be waived in open court on the record by the defendant.” Defense counsel’s failure to call defendant to testify constitutes a waiver of the defendant’s right to testify unless the defendant expressly advises the trial court on the record at pretrial proceedings or during the trial of her wish to testify. If counsel waives defendant’s right to testify and defendant after trial asserts that she did not consent to the waiver, defendant’s recourse is to move to set aside the conviction on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel, if the waiver was prejudicial to the defendant.
*136The majority has in effect created a third category of constitutional rights, namely, an “important constitutional right” which lies somewhere between a “fundamental” right, which only the defendant may personally waive, and a less fundamental constitutional right labeled a “trial or tactical decision”, which is left exclusively to the determination of defense counsel without any necessity for consultation with or concurrence by the defendant. The majority puts the “right to testify” into this new third category.
I think the majority’s creation of a third category of “constitutional rights” labeled “important constitutional rights” just adds to the present confusion caused by the existence of two categories of rights: fundamental and tactical. As the state’s brief wisely points out, courts have a difficult time determining whether a particular right is fundamental or tactical because there appears to be no authoritative standard by which to determine into which category á particular right is to be placed. Now the majority adds a third category of rights without establishing any guidelines to determine which “rights” fit into this category and without, as I shall discuss further, making rights in this third category significantly different from those in the tactical rights category.
I can understand why the majority is reluctant to relegate the right to testify to the category of a tactical trial decision completely within counsel’s control. “The decision whether to testify is a matter of higher quality and dignity than trial happenings such as whether to object to evidence.” Wright v. Estelle, 572 F.2d 1071, 1078 (5th Cir. 1978) (Godbold, J. dissenting). A fundamental requisite of due process is the opportunity to be heard. Wisconsin v. Constantineau, 400 U.S. 433, 437 (1971). A primary element of the defendant’s opportunity to be heard is the right to offer testimony, including the defendant’s own story. In re Oliver, 333 *137U.S. 257, 273 (1948); Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 294 (1973); Dawson, Due Process v. Defense Counsel’s Unilateral Waiver of Defendant’s Right to Testify, 3 Hastings Const. L.Q. 517, 525-529 (1976). In at least one respect the majority correctly treats the “important constitutional right” to testify like a fundamental right— the decision whether to exercise or waive the right is to be made by the defendant, not counsel.
Mr. Chief Justice Burger, concurring in Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 93, n. 1 (1977), distinguished those decisions which rest with defense counsel and those which rest with the defendant. He commented “[o]nly such basic decisions as whether to plead guilty, waive a jury or testify in one’s own behalf are ultimately for the accused to make.” For this statement the Chief Justice cited the American Bar Association Project on Standards for Criminal Justice, Standards Relating to the Prosecution Function and the Defense Function. Sec. 5.2 of Standards Relating to the Defense Function, pp. 237-238 (App. Draft 1971), provides as follows:
“5.2 Control and direction of the case.
“(a) Certain decisions relating to the conduct of the case are ultimately for the accused and others are ultimately for defense counsel. The decisions which are to be made by the accused after full consultation with counsel are: (i) what plea to enterj (ii) whether to waive jury trial; (iii) whether to testify in his own behalf.
“(b) The decisions on what witnesses to call, whether and how to conduct cross-examination, what jurors to accept or strike, what trial motions should be made, and all other strategic and tactical decisions are the exclusive province of the lawyer after consultation with his client.
“(c) If a disagreement on significant matters of tactics or strategy arises between the lawyer and his client, the lawyer should make a record of the circumstances, his advice and reasons, and the conclusion reached. The record should be made in a manner which protects the confidentiality of the lawyer-client relation.”
*138The commentary to sec. 5.2 makes clear the intent of the draftsmen that the right to testify can be waived only by the defendant personally:
“a. Allocation of decision-making power
“The history of the criminal process in our system and the rights vested in an accused under the Constitution mark out certain basic decisions as belonging to the client; other decisions fall within the province of the lawyer.
“. . . In making each of these decisions — whether to plead guilty, whether to waive jury trial, and whether to testify — the accused should have the full and careful advice of his lawyer. Although counsel should not demand that his own view of the desirable course be followed, he is free to engage in fair persuasion and to urge his considered professional opinion on his client. Ultimately, however, because of the fundamental nature of these three decisions, crucial in such basic matters governing his own fate, the decisions on these matters belong to the accused.” Id. at 238-239.
I read this court’s decision in State v. Harper, 57 Wis.2d 543, 557, n. 8, 205 N.W.2d 1 (1973), as adopting standard 5.2 of the American Bar Association Project on Standards for Criminal Justice, Standards Relating to the Defense Function (Approved Draft 1971). This court should not now move away from Standard 5.2.1
*139The state argues that the decision whether to testify must be left to counsel because rarely is the accused as capable as the attorney of making a knowing and intelligent choice in the matter. I do not think the issue can be determined by looking at whether counsel or defendant is more capable of making the choice. The defendant’s liberty is at stake — not counsel’s. It seems to me that our concepts of freedom of choice, of fairness to the individual and of respect for the individual mandate that we recognize the defendant’s right to make the significant decision whether to testify under oath.
Although the majority opinion recognizes the defendant’s right to decide personally whether to testify, the majority opinion then surprisingly concludes that counsel can waive the right, just as counsel can waive constitutional rights which are tactical trial decisions.2
*140The majority concludes that there is a waiver of this “important constitutional right” if the defendant fails to stand up at trial or pretrial proceedings and make known to the trial court her wish to take the stand. If the defendant fails to object on the record to counsel’s failure to call her to the stand, the defendant is bound by counsel’s action. I think it is unrealistic to impose such an obligation on the defendant. I would expect that no defendants other than those who are also attorneys or who are very experienced in criminal judicial proceedings would stand up at a trial or at a pretrial proceeding and do battle with defense counsel over the question of whether the defendant should testify.
Because the majority opinion is so quick to find defendant’s waiver of this “important constitutional right,” it appears that the majority is treating the defendant’s “important constitutional right” the same as a tactical trial decision. The majority fails to describe the difference between the trial court’s role when defendant stands up to disagree with defense counsel on defendant’s testifying and the trial court’s role when defendant disagrees with defense counsel on tactical trial decisions. The majority fails to describe what the trial court is to do when the defendant makes known her disagreement with defense counsel as to her testifying; I assume that the *141trial court cannot prohibit the defendant from testifying. Nor does the majority opinion tell us what the obligations of defense counsel are in advising a defendant of her constitutional right to testify or not to testify or in advising the trial court in the event of an irreconcilable disagreement between counsel and client.
But the majority does offer the defendant a way out of the “waiver trap,” saying: “If the counsel waives the defendant’s right to testify, and that decision was prejudicial to the defendant3 the objection of the defendant should be on the failure to obtain the effective assistance of counsel.” This language leaves unclear whether the majority is merely applying the general rule relating to ineffective counsel where tactical trial decisions are concerned or whether the majority is saying that counsel’s failure to advise the defendant that she had a constitutional right to decide personally whether or not to testify and that she need not abide by counsel’s advice on this decision, in and of itself, constitutes ineffective representation, unless the defendant knew of her right to testify against counsel’s advice or under the circumstances should have known of her right to testify.
In the case at bar, after the verdict, newly retained defense counsel moved for a new trial on the ground of ineffective trial counsel, specifying that trial counsel did not allow the defendant to testify. In this motion for a *142new trial the defendant claimed that counsel had made a strategic error in not having her testify. Counsel did not raise the issue of defendants’ unknowingly and unintentionally waiving her constitutional right to testify. The trial court held a hearing on the issue, and the defendant and trial counsel testified at this hearing. The trial court concluded that the attorney’s decision not to have the defendant testify was sound trial strategy and that the charge of ineffective counsel was not proved. The trial court said:
“. . . The chief thrust of defendant’s motion [for a new trial] is to incompetence of counsel because the client did not testify. It is apparent to the Court that the client had recently been convicted of the crime of adultery in another Court in this county. This conviction could have been presented to the jury to impeach her testimony had she testified. It was necessary for trial counsel to weigh this fact. In fact, the testimony shows he did this. The testimony further shows that these young persons were hanging around her place for one reason or other, a number of them, and to get this adultery before the jury, any trial counsel would shiver in his boots to have that brought before the jury with these young men testifying. As the Supreme Court said in the Simmons case [57 Wis.2d 285], we believe, however, that an attack on professional competence of another attorney should [not] be undertaken lightly, and should not be predicated upon post-conviction. Counsel’s preference for what he might have done in the same situation; and again at page 299. There has been a failure to show that the trial conduct was the result of incompetence and not sound trial strategy. Certainly, I don’t believe any counsel of any competence whatsoever would have placed this woman on the stand under the circumstances of this case in view of the testimony which he knew very well was to be brought out on the trial. . . . Counsel tried this case, the Court is very familiar with the case, and believes that the case was properly presented when he was faced with the facts he had. . . . [R. 128-124].”
*143In resolving the motion for a new trial the trial court was properly concerned with the question of trial strategy which had been raised; the trial court was not concerned with the constitutional right to testify, an issue which had not been raised. Under the established rules applicable to challenging convictions on the ground of ineffective counsel where tactical trial decisions are. concerned, the challenge is decided not on the ground that counsel failed to advise the client of a particular constitutional right or on the ground that counsel did not heed the client’s wishes on such tactical trial decisions, but rather on the ground that under all the circumstances, the representation was not “equal to that which the ordinarily prudent lawyer, skilled and versed in criminal law, would give to clients who had privately retained his services.” State v. Harper, 57 Wis.2d 543, 557, 205 N.W.2d 1 (1973).
The defendant’s post-conviction motion under sec. 974.06 raises issues that were not raised in her previous motion for a new trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel. The defendant asserts in her 974.06 motion papers that she told her trial attorney that she wanted to testify, that her attorney told her not to testify, that she was not informed that she had a constitutional right to testify or that the final decision whether to testify was hers; and that she would have testified if she had known that she had that right. In her 974.06 motion the defendant is contending that she did not voluntarily and knowingly accede to counsel’s advice and that trial counsel in fact prevented her from testifying.
The trial court mistakenly concluded that “the files and records of this action [the 974.06 motion] conclusively show that the defendant is entitled to no relief for the reason that all the matters raised by the defendant in this motion were raised . . . [by her prior motion for a new trial] and were decided against the defendant *144. . . By affirming the trial court’s order summarily dismissing the 974.06 motion based on a constitutional right to testify, the majority is in effect applying the same rules applicable to challenging convictions on the grounds of ineffective counsel where tactical trial decisions are concerned to defendant’s waiver of the right to testify. Thus the majority is treating the right to testify, which it characterizes as an “important constitutional right,” in the same way as it would treat a tactical trial decision.
I suggested previously that the majority opinion might be interpreted as saying that counsel’s preventing the defendant from exercising her “important constitutional right” to testify is conduct which in and of itself constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel. I conclude that apparently the majority did not intend this interpretation, because the majority affirms the trial court’s summary dismissal of defendant’s 974.06 motion instead of granting defendant’s request that this court remand the cause to the trial court to take testimony on the factual issue raised.
I believe defendant’s motion alleges facts which, if true, would entitle her to relief and that therefore the trial court should hold an evidentiary hearing. The majority opinion, without giving the defendant an opportunity to be heard on the issue, concludes that “although she disagreed with her attorney’s decision, she reluctantly accepted his advice.” I would remand for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the defendant intentionally relinquished or abandoned a known right. I therefore dissent.

 See Hughes v. State, 513 P.2d 1115 (Alaska 1973); People v. Robles, 85 Cal. Rptr. 166, 466 P.2d 710, 716 (1970).
See also, Amsterdam, Trial Manual for the Defense of Criminal Cases see. 390, 1-390 (2d ed. 1971):
“Counsel should weigh these considerations and decide in the first instance whether or not he thinks the defendant ought to testify. That decision should be told to the defendant, with the reasons for it. Counsel may properly urge the defendant that it is unwise or dangerous for him to take the stand. However, if a defendant wishes to testify despite advice to the contrary, it is necessary to yield to his stubbornness .... Counsel should always clearly outline to the defendant the hazards of his testifying *139(whether or not counsel wants to put him on). But if this fails to daunt the client, and if counsel’s advice against testifying fails to persuade him, the client should be allowed to testify.”
A concern which apparently is not present in the facts of this case, but which may be present in other cases where defense counsel desires not to have the defendant testify, is that counsel fears that the defendant intends to commit perjury. Various approaches to this problem are discussed in Polster, The Dilemma of the Perjurious Defendant: Resolution, Not Avoidance, 28 Case Western Res. L.R. 3 (1977); Dawson, Due Process v. Defense Counsel’s Unilateral Waiver of the Defendant’s Right to Testify, 3 Hastings Const. L.Q. 517, 537-539 (1976); United States ex rel. Wilcox v. Johnson, 555 F.2d 115, 121-122 (3d Cir. 1977).

 To find waiver of a fundamental right which only the defendant can waive, the court must find an “intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege,” and the court must indulge in “every reasonable presumption against waiver of fundamental constitutional rights.” Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 (1938).
In Thiesen v. State, 86 Wis.2d 562, 565, 273 N.W.2d 314 (1979), this court recognized that:
“certain constitutional rights may be waived only by the defendant himself. Waiver of a constitutional right traditionally *140requires intentional relinquishment of a known right. State v. Harper, 57 Wis.2d 543, 548, 205 N.W.2d 1 (1972). See Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 (1938); State v. McDonald, 50 Wis.2d 534, 184 N.W.2d 886 (1971); Keller v. State, 75 Wis.2d 502, 249 N.W.2d 773 (1977). This court has applied the standard of personal and intentional relinquishment of a known right to the defendant’s right to counsel and right to a jury trial. State v. Harper, 57 Wis.2d at 550; Keller v. State, 75 Wis.2d at 509.”
The standard of personal and intentional relinquishment of a known right has been recognized by this court to be applicable also to the decision to plead guilty and to not being forced to take the stand in one’s own behalf. State v. Harper, 57 Wis.2d 543, 550, 205 N.W.2d 1 (1973).

 Thus the harmless error rule apparently applies to situations in which defense counsel improperly prevents a defendant from exercising his right to testify. The facts of this case indicate that the defendant’s testimony would have been very important to the jury’s determination of guilt. Thus it is clear in the instant case that preventing her from testifying would not be harmless error.
The Minnesota Supreme Court held that “the right to testify is such a basic and personal right that its infraction should not be treated as harmless error.” State v. Rosillo, 281 N.W.2d 877, 879 (Minn. 1979). See also Wright v. Estelle, 572 F.2d 1071, 1080 (5th Cir. 1978) (Godbold, J., dissenting).