Court Opinion

ID: 9758792
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 23:46:00.9619+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:55.804465
License: Public Domain

KELLY, Associate Judge
(dissenting):
In dissenting from the majority holding in this case I believe a more extended discussion of the constitutional issue presented is necessary. Briefly put, the facts are that appellant was not present at a hearing to suppress evidence of a gun found on or near his person at the time of his arrest. *233No inquiry was made of counsel by the court as to why appellant was not present, nor whether he knew the motion was to be heard that date and had been advised of his right to be present. No explanation for appellant’s absence appears in the record of the trial court.1 The contention here is that the court denied appellant his rights under Super.Ct.Cr.R. 43 2 and under the Constitution of the United States by holding the hearing in his absence.
Whatever the relevance of Rule 43,3 which does not by its terms grant a right to be present at a pretrial motion to suppress evidence, it seems clear to me that appellant had a constitutional right to be present at the hearing on his motion to suppress evidence and on this record there is no showing that appellant waived that constitutional right.
The due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments insure that all proceedings against a defendant shall be conducted in accordance with fundamental fairness in every respect. In terms of a defendant’s right to be present at an evi-dentiary hearing other than his trial, this means that the defendant shall have that right whenever his presence bears a reasonably substantial relationship to his opportunity to defend. Many years ago the Supreme Court in Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 105-106, 54 S.Ct. 330, 332, 78 L.Ed. 674 (1934), overruled on other grounds, Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 12 L.Ed.2d 653 (1964), said that “in a prosecution for a felony the defendant has the privilege under the Fourteenth Amendment to be present in his own person whenever his presence has a relation, reasonably substantial, to the fulness of his opportunity to defend against the charge. . . .” In Snyder, the Court had before it the question of whether a defendant had a right under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to accompany the jury on a view of the scene of the crime. It concluded that he did not, finding that he could have added nothing by his presence and that the attendance by his counsel was sufficient to safeguard his interests insofar as the accuracy and fairness of the view were concerned. The Court was careful to point out, however, that if the defendant’s presence would have made a difference at the jury viewing it would have been essential to due process for him to be there. The rule set forth was that “[s]o far as the Fourteenth Amendment is concerned, the presence of a defendant is a condition of due process to the extent that a fair and just hearing would be thwarted by his absence, and to that extent only.” Snyder v. Massachusetts, supra, 291 U.S. at 107-108, 54 S.Ct. at 333. The due process clause of the Fifth Amendment would similarly insure a defendant in District of Columbia courts the right to be present whenever a fair and just hearing would be thwarted in his absence. Neild v. District of Columbia, 71 App.D.C. 306, 310 n. 10, 110 F.2d 246, 250 n. 10 (1940).
The Supreme Court later reaffirmed its Snyder dictum by holding that under certain circumstances a defendant’s presence *234may be required at a hearing on a post-trial motion under 28 U.S.C. § 22SS. United States v. Hayman, 342 U.S. 205, 72 S.Ct. 263, 96 L.Ed. 232 (1952). The Court said: “Whether the prisoner should be produced depends upon the issues raised by the particular case. Where, as here, there are substantial issues of fact as to events in which the prisoner participated, the trial court should require his production for a hearing.” Id. at 223, 72 S.Ct. at 274. See also 3 C. Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure: Criminal, § 721, at 195 (1969); 8A Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 43.03[1], at 43-15 & -16 (2d ed. 1974 rev.).
The pretrial hearing on the motion to suppress in the instant case presents just such a situation where appellant’s presence was essential to due process. The sole purpose of the hearing was to present the facts surrounding the search of appellant and the seizure of the gun from his person, or elsewhere, so that the court could determine the legality of that search and seizure. Appellant, absent from the hearing, was deprived of the opportunity to advise his counsel with respect to the calling and cross-examination of witnesses as well as of the opportunity, if he so desired, to present his own version of the events. Additionally, an adverse decision rendered at a suppression hearing becomes the law of the case and is ordinarily binding upon a defendant at trial. D.C.Code 1973, § 23-104(a) (2); Jenkins v. United States, D.C.App., 284 A.2d 460 (1971). Under such circumstances fundamental fairness requires that appellant, a participant in the events at issue, be present at the eviden-tiary hearing to determine whether his Fourth Amendment rights have been violated.
Appellant would also have us recognize that his right to confrontation of witnesses under the Sixth Amendment4 was violated by holding the suppression hearing in his absence. In my judgment, the right to be present at a hearing to suppress evidence is also guaranteed to the accused by the Sixth Amendment in those hearings at which testimony is taken and the subject matter of the testimony is not restricted to technical matters or to confidential information. United States v. Ruiz-Estrella, 481 F.2d 723, 725 (2d Cir. 1973).5 And again, by his exclusion from the hearing, appellant was denied the opportunity to advise with counsel and to cross-examine the witnesses against him, two of the purposes of that guarantee.6 Snyder v. Massachusetts, supra, 291 U.S. at 114, 54 S.Ct. at 335.
The constitutional rights at issue have been regarded as “basic” and “fundamental”, United States v. Ruiz-Estrella, supra, 481 F.2d at 726; United States v. Clark, 475 F.2d 240, 247 (2d Cir. 1973), and sometimes as “personal”, United States v. Crutcher, 405 F.2d 239, 243 (2d Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 908, 89 S.Ct. 1018, 22 L.Ed.2d 219 (1969). A distinguishing characteristic of rights so designated is that, as they are essential to fairness and justice, they cannot *235be waived save by the accused and then only intelligently and competently. As defined in Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1023, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938) (right to counsel), a waiver is “an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege”,7 and the right to be present at a suppression hearing of the kind at issue here has been held to require such an understanding waiver. See United States v. Clark, supra, 475 F.2d at 247-248; United States v. Lopez, supra, 328 F.Supp. at 1088; United States v. Dalli, 424 F.2d 45, 48 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 821, 91 S.Ct. 39, 27 L.Ed.2d 49 (1970).
The fact that there was no objection before or at trial to appellant’s absence from the hearing did not result in a waiver of the objection and its loss for purposes of appeal. See United States v. Clark, supra, wherein the court dismissed a claim of waiver advanced by the government when defense counsel raised no objection to the defendant’s absence from a suppression hearing and none to the government’s motion to exclude him.8 It is true, of course, as the majority notes, that two types of waiver have developed in the law, and that in many instances (e. g., failure to object to illegal evidence; failure to object to hearsay) the defendant will be precluded from raising issues on appeal that were not raised at trial. The appellate court is then only free to notice plain error affecting substantial rights, the damaging effect of which may, in turn, be negated if the error is found to be harmless. This type of analysis is precluded where, as here, a fundamental constitutional right is involved.
The majority suggests that waiver was effected in this case because the decision not to raise an objection may have been a tactical one on the part of the defense counsel and thus binding on appellant in accordance with Henry v. Mississippi, 379 U.S. 443, 85 S.Ct. 564, 13 L.Ed.2d 408 (1965). Even assuming the rule of Henry v. Mississippi is applicable, however,9 it seems that it merely adds another type of knowing waiver to those already binding on a defendant; specifically, a deliberate failure to object in order to gain some tactical advantage at trial. In Henry counsel failed to object to the introduction of illegally obtained evidence and the cause was remanded to determine whether the lack of objection was inadvertent. At the very least, then, this court would have to remand this case to see if counsel deliberately chose not to assert the right. In any event, the record is to the contrary. Defense counsel moved pretrial to suppress the gun, objected to its introduction at trial, and moved for judgment of acquittal both at the close of the government's case and at the close of all the evidence. These repeated motions belie the suggestions of the majority that defense counsel believed appellant’s testimony to be probative of guilt or that he wished to go to the jury on the issue of innocent presence near the gun.
*236The majority concludes by stating that even if counsel did not deliberately decline to raise the issue of appellant’s absence from the hearing, any resultant error was harmless. Again, it must be noted that we are dealing here with basic constitutional rights which cannot be lost except through a voluntary, intelligent waiver and that action in derogation of these rights is not subject to rehabilitation on the ground that it was harmless. As stated in Snyder v. Massachusetts, stipra, 291 U.S. at 116, 54 S.Ct. at 336:
True, indeed, it is that constitutional privileges or immunities may be conferred so explicitly as to leave no room for an inquiry whether prejudice to a defendant has been wrought through their denial. ... If the defendant in a federal court were to be denied the opportunity to be confronted with the “witnesses against him,” the denial of the privilege would not be overlooked as immaterial because the evidence thus procured was persuasive of the defendant’s guilt. In the same way, privileges, even though not explicit, may be so obviously fundamental as to bring us to the same result. .
And as the Supreme Court more recently noted, in Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 23, 87 S.Ct. 824, 827, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967), “there are some constitutional rights so basic to a fair trial that their infraction can never be treated as harmless error.” 10 Appellant’s right to be present at the suppression hearing could not be defeated by a claim that his absence was harmless. The trial court cannot dispense with his presence in a hearing that directly affects his liberty, nor can this kind of error be cured by subsequent events in the proceeding.
For the reasons set forth above, I respectfully dissent.

. There is an entry on the docket made four days after the hearing which reads: “Bench warrant issued, defendant in jail in New Jersey”. If appellant was in custody, however, it was not of course in his power to voluntarily absent himself from the hearing. Cross v. United States, 117 U.S.App.D.C. 56, 325 F.2d 629 (1963). Appellant’s affidavit explaining the reason for his absence to this court, which was appended to his brief, was stricken from the record on motion from the government.

. Super. Ct.Cr.R. 43 provides in pertinent part:
The defendant shall be present at the arraignment, at every stage of the trial including the impanelling of the jury and the return of the verdict, and at the imposition of sentence. In prosecutions for offenses not punishable by death, the defendant’s voluntary absence after the trial has been commenced in his presence shall not prevent continuing the trial to and including the return of the verdict. .

.See Campbell v. United States, D.C.App., 295 A.2d 498 (1972).

. The Sixth Amendment reads in pertinent part:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . to be confronted with the witnesses against him

. Several cases have carved out a limited ex-oeirtion to the defendant’s right of presence at suppression hearings where the testimony pertained to a profile used by the airline companies to identify potential hijackers. United States v. Clark, 475 F.2d 240 (2d Cir. 1973) ; United States v. Bell, 464 F.2d 667 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 991, 93 S.Ct. 335, 34 L.Ed.2d 258 (1972); United States v. Lopez, 328 F.Supp. 1077 (E.D.N.Y.1971).

.The primary purpose of the Sixth Amendment lias often been stated to be the prevention of the use of depositions or ex parte affidavits to convict the accused. The Amendment compels the presence of the accusers so that the defendant can test their recollection and subject them to the scrutiny of the jury. The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (1973), p. 1212. The purposes of the Amendment have thus been interpreted as various, and it would seem reasonable to assume that its purposes are as varied as the abuses which arise from the absence of the defendant at times when witnesses are testifying.

. Examples of rights to which this standard is applied are the privilege against self-incrimination, right to trial by jury, rights given up by a guilty plea, and the right to assistance of counsel. United States v. McPherson, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 192, 194-195 n. 6, 421 F.2d 1127, 1129-1130 n. 6 (1969).

. See also United States v. Hurse, 477 F.2d 31, 33 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 908, 94 S.Ct. 245, 38 L.Ed.2d 146 (1973), where the appellate court entertained the contention of error due to absence from a supplemental suppression hearing raised for the first time on appeal.

.Henry v. Mississippi, supra, deals with the preservation of a federal constitutional claim, that of an illegal search, in a state court where it was subject to a state requirement that an objection be raised at the time of the introduction of the evidence. There was some indication that defense counsel was from out of state and was not familiar with the local rule. It was under these circumstances that a “knowing waiver” was required by the Supreme Court.
It is highly questionable whether the “knowing waiver” delineated in Henry applies to rights such as those at issue here or that it in any way displaces the intelligent and competent waiver required to lose those rights.

. See also Miller v. United States, D.C.App., 250 A.2d 573 (1969).