Court Opinion

ID: 9714147
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:32:11.869477+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:23.925882
License: Public Domain

Holden, C.J.,
concurring. I concur in the result reached in the majority opinion for the reason that the petition fails to state an adequate ground for post-conviction relief. It should be pointed out, however, that in this instance the petitioner, while in the lower court, made no request for assignment of counsel. Neither did he claim indigency nor ask to be present in court at the time his motion to vacate was advanced for consideration. The preliminary screening process, conducted by the court at that time, apparently led it to the conclusion that the application came within the provisions of 13 V.S.A. § 7134. At least that is the section cited as authority for dismissal. This section provides that the court is not required to entertain a second or successive motion for similar relief on behalf of the same prisoner.
In dealing with repetitive applications, the finality of a prior judgment is an affirmative defense to be pleaded and proved by the State. Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 10 L.Ed.2d 148, 162; Minimum Standards Relating to Post-*591Conviction Remedies §§ 6.1, 6.2. The function of those representing the State, by way of answer and reference to the record of conviction, should aid in defining the issues. And such response should provide assistance to the court in determining whether the application is indeed frivolous. Idem. Commentary pp. 57-59.
Traditional concepts of res judicata have been held inapplicable to post-conviction proceeding where a prisoner’s fundamental rights are at stake. Sanders v. Unites States, supra, 373 U.S. 1, 10 L.Ed.2d 148, 157; In re Turner, 92 Vt. 210, 214, 102 A. 943. But finality, as distinguished from the particular rules of res judicata, is of vital significance in the administration of criminal justice. “Both the individual criminal defendant and society have an interest in insuring that there will at some point be the certainty that comes with an end to litigation, and that attention will ulimately be focused not on whether a conviction was free from error but rather on whether the prisoner can be restored to a useful place in the community. It is with this interest in mind, as well as the desire to avoid confinements contrary to fundamental justice, that courts and legislatures have developed rules governing the availability of collateral relief.” Sanders v. United States, supra, 10 L.Ed.2d at 167.
The federal post-conviction statute contains substantially the same language used in section 7134. 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The Supreme Court held this language cannot be taken literally. The Court went on to establish the rule that the denial of a prior application shall be controlling “only if (1) the same ground presented in the subsequent application was determined adversely to the applicant on the prior application, (2) the prior determination was on the merits, and (3) the ends of justice would not be served by reaching the merits of the subsequent application.” Sanders v. United States, supra, 10 L.Ed.2d at 160, 161.
Our statute has essentially the same force and effect. It does not mean that the first application bars, with total finality, all grounds that otherwise might justify post-conviction relief. Only those factual or legal contentions actually adjudicated or questions which the applicant knew of, but deliberately, or without adequate excuse, failed to raise either in the proceeding which led to his conviction or in prior post-con*592viction proceedings are foreclosed. Minimum Standards Relating to Post Conviction Remedies, supra, §§ 6.1, 6.2, pp. 85-94. See also, Garceau v. State of Vermont, 126 Vt. 516, 519, 236 A.2d 661.
The question of the sufficiency of the information was not raised in the plaintiff’s appeal on his earlier motion. In re Provencher, supra, 127 Vt. 558, 255 A.2d 180. The order of the county court, in dismissing the application, cannot be sustained on-the strength of section 7134 in the absence of an affirmative showing by the State that the contention now advanced was presented or inexcusably withheld in the prior proceedings.
However, the order of dismissal does not stand on section 7134 alone. Apparently the court below was also persuaded that the motion, files and records of the case conclusively show that the petitioner is not entitled to the relief requested. I believe this aspect of the order is well founded.
Defects in an information, which are open to objection and correction within the framework of orderly criminal procedure, aré not subject to collateral review in post-conviction proceedings. In re DeCelle, 125 Vt. 467, 469, 218 A.2d 714; In re Greenough, 116 Vt. 277, 281, 75 A.2d 569. In this instance the complaint identified the respondent and alleged the time arid place of the escape with sufficient certainty to enable the accused to intelligently prépare his defense and protect himself against double jeopardy for the same offense. State v. Baril, 127 Vt. 394, 398, 250 A.2d 732; State v. Wersebe, 107 Vt. 529, 534, 181 A.2d 299. In these respects, the information meets the demands of both state and federal constitutions. State of Vermont v. Barr, 126 Vt. 112, 119, 223 A.2d 462; Hodgson v. Vermont, 168 U.S. 262, 42 L.Ed. 461, 463, affirming State v. Hodgson, 66 Vt. 134, 149, 28 A. 1089.
I am authorized to state that all members of the Court are in accord with the views expressed in this concurring opinion.