Lead Opinion
OPINION
This is an appeal from a denial of a writ of habeas corpus.
McCracken was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a violation of both Alaska law
McCracken did not testify under oath at the revocation proceeding or present any witnesses. After hearing the testimony of witnesses presented by the state, the board of parole found that McCracken had violated his conditions of release by unlawfully possessing a firearm and remanded him to
McCracken’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus claiming denial of due process at the revocation hearing was denied. He now appeals.
I.
First, petitioner argues that the lower court erred in holding that the denial of the preliminary injunction is res judicata in the habeas corpus proceeding. We agree. Historically, res judicata did not operate as a bar to habeas corpus.
“It is of the historical essence of habeas corpus that it lies to test proceedings' so fundamentally lawless that imprisonment pursuant to them is not merely erroneous but void. Hence, the familiar principle that res judicata is inapplicable in habeas corpus proceedings ... is really but an instance of the larger principle that void judgments may be collaterally impeached.” [citations omitted]
We also agree with the Supreme Court’s statement in Darr v. Burford,
“AH the authorities agree that res judica-ta does not apply to applications for habe-as corpus. The courts must be kept open to guard against injustice through judicial error.” [footnote omitted]6
II.
Second, petitioner claims that, notwithstanding the grant of immunity bestowed
“When the probation revocation proceeding is based upon alleged criminal conduct as to which the probationer’s innocence or guilt remains to be adjudicated in a criminal proceeding, there is the possibility of dilution of the probationer’s privilege against self-incrimination . In my view this is a problem of some significance which calls for solution.”
Id. at 16. We are now presented with an opportunity to address this issue.
It is clear that the parolee is entitled to certain due process rights at a parole revocation hearing, including the “opportunity to be heard in person and to present witnesses and documentary evidence.” Morrissey v. Brewer,
It is also clear that permitting a parolee’s testimony at a revocation hearing to be used against him in a subsequent criminal trial for the very conduct which forms the basis of revocation is potentially incriminating. In Scott v. State,
The United States Supreme Court has held that an individual has a constitutional right to remain silent in any “proceeding, civil or criminal, formal or informal, where the answers might incriminate him in future criminal proceedings.” Lefkowitz v. Turley,
Lefkowitz affirmed the teaching of a long line of cases that the state cannot condition the exercise of the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination upon the forfeiture of another constitutionally protected right.
In another line of cases, the Supreme Court has addressed the problem of whether the surrender of one constitutional right for the exercise of another imposes an impermissible penalty. In Simmons v. United States,
A subsequent Supreme Court decision, McGautha v. California,
The Supreme Court’s most recent pronouncement on the issue of conflicting constitutional rights is in Baxter v. Palmigiano,
“Prison disciplinary hearings are not criminal proceedings; but if inmates are compelled in those proceedings to furnish testimonial evidence that might incriminate them in later criminal proceedings, they must be offered ‘whatever immunity is required to supplant the privilege’ and may not be required to ‘waive such immunity.’ ”
Id. at 316,
It is apparent from analysis of the above cases that there is no clear standard for determining what choices constitute a penalty for the assertion of a constitutional right as opposed to a mere tactical decision. For this reason most state courts which have faced the question of whether revocation of probation prior to the criminal trial on the same charges violates the probationer or parolee’s Fifth Amendment rights have declined to decide the constitutional issue and have instead based their decision on their supervisory powers.
“Whether or not it actually abridged defendant’s constitutional rights, the choice forced upon him at his revocation hearing was unnecessarily inconsistent with constitutional values.
[RJegardless of whether we are constitutionally compelled to do so, in the interests of justice and in the exercise of our inherent supervisory powers over the courts of this state, we should alleviate the hard testimonial choice facing probationers subject to the loss of probation for conduct for which they may also be liable to criminal prosecution.”
Id.
The Coleman court concluded that the practice of holding a revocation proceeding based upon commission of another crime prior to the disposition of that charge adversely affects at least two of “the many and varied policies underlying the privilege against self-incrimination.” Id.,
Some authorities conclude that this dilemma can only be resolved by requiring the state to postpone the revocation hearing until after the disposition of the criminal charge.
“We think the solution lies in establishing certain safeguards by which the parolee’s dilemma is lessened at the revocation hearing. We feel that the parolee’s most significant handicap — the fear of self-incrimination — can readily be eliminated. . . . Accordingly, we hold that any self-incriminatory statements made in a parole revocation hearing shall not be used affirmatively against the parolee in any subsequent criminal proceeding.” [footnotes omitted]
Id. at 655.
Similarly, the Coleman court fashioned an exclusionary rule whereby “upon timely objection the testimony of a probationer at a probation revocation hearing held prior to the disposition of criminal charges arising out of the alleged violation of the conditions of his probation, and any evidence derived from such testimony, is inadmissible against the probationer during subsequent proceedings on the related criminal charges . . .”
It is true, as petitioner asserts, that, despite a grant of use immunity, he may necessarily have to divulge his defense strategy at a revocation hearing held prior to the criminal trial. For this reason we agree with the California supreme court that “the most desirable method of handling the problems of concurrent criminal and probation revocation proceedings may well be for revocation proceedings not even to be initiated until after disposition of the related criminal proceedings.”
We are persuaded by the approach adopted in Coleman and DeLomba. In the interests of fairness, a parolee should not be forced to choose between remaining mute at a revocation proceeding, thereby surrendering his right to present a defense, or
In the present case, petitioner was informed by the superior court that he would be given immunity at subsequent criminal proceedings for any testimony offered at the revocation hearing. Despite this grant of immunity, McCracken’s attorney explained, through affidavit, that he did not advise his client to present a defense at the revocation hearing because he “anticipated that the District Attorney prosecuting Mr. McCracken would have access to all information which may be presented and would have utilized all of such information in preparing for trial of the felony case.” Thus, McCracken’s reluctance to present a defense was primarily based on his assumption that the court’s order did not extend to the fruits of any testimony he presented at the revocation hearing.
The Supreme Court has expressed concern that a witness who has been granted immunity “not be required to answer a question if there is some rational basis for believing that it will incriminate him . .” Maness v. Meyers,
“A witness has, we think, a constitutional right to stand on the privilege against self-incrimination until it has been fairly demonstrated to him that an immunity, as broad in scope as the privilege it replaces, is available and applicable to him.” [footnote omitted]
See also Baxter v. Palmigiano,
Although the superior court’s order clearly states that “any testimony given on behalf of the defense” [emphasis added] could not be used against the defendant “in anyway, whatsoever,” we do not think that this clearly demonstrated to McCracken that the fruits of any evidence or testimony presented by him at the revocation hearing could not be used at a later trial. Had McCracken had full knowledge and awareness of the immunity required by this opinion, we cannot help but think that he would have conducted a far more adequate defense at the revocation hearing. Since we find that petitioner had a rational basis for being unsure of the degree of protection the court’s grant of immunity would actually afford him at his subsequent criminal trial, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
Notes
. AS 11.55.030.
. Petitioner categorized himself as a probationer, but in fact he is a parolee. The grant of parole on January 30, 1976 was specifically conditioned on non-possession of any firearm.
.On the day of his arrest, petitioner-appellant’s parole officer filed a two count parole violation charge based upon the criminal activity for which McCracken was arrested. Shortly thereafter, McCracken was indicted by a grand jury for three counts of possession of a weapon by a felon.
. McCracken’s original conviction on two counts of shooting with intent to kill and two counts of use of a firearm during an assault, affirmed in part and reversed in part in McCracken v. State,
. At common law the denial of an application for habeas corpus was not conclusive upon subsequent applications. See Ex parte Partington, 13 M. & W. 679, 153 Eng.Rep. 284 (Ex. 1845); Burdett v. Abbot, 14 East 1, 90, 104 Eng.Rep. 501, 535 (K.B. 1811); King v. Suddis, 1 East 106, 102 Eng.Rep. 119 (K.B. 1801). The principle was adopted in this country at a very early time. See, e. g., Ex parte Burford,
. AS 12.75.230 is inapplicable to the present case. That statute provides in pertinent part:
“No question once finally determined upon a proceeding by habeas corpus shall be re-examined upon another or subsequent proceeding of the same kind." [emphasis added]
The emphasized portion of AS 12.75.230 indicates that it was intended to apply only to successive applications for habeas corpus and not, as here, to a judgment followed by application for habeas relief.
In Taggard v. State,
We resolved Taggard by resort to the rule that dismissal of a criminal appeal does not necessarily preclude a second appeal. In so doing we implied that, had we reached the merits of Taggard’s habeas corpus appeal, that decision would have been a bar to Taggard’s subsequent appeal. In light of our decision today, we now expressly disapprove any such implication. AS 12.75.230 applies only to successive applications for habeas corpus. This conclusion is consistent with Perry v. State,
It is unnecessary, for the purposes of this opinion, to decide whether AS 12.75.230 was intended to depart from the common law rule as to successive applications for habeas corpus. We reiterate our concern, however, that such a conclusion would raise “serious constitutional questions.” Taggard v. State,
. Morrissey v. Brewer,
. The right to refrain from compulsory self-incrimination is guaranteed by the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution and art. I, § 9, of the Alaska Constitution.
.In McGinnis, we held that the Alaska Constitution affords an inmate greater due process protections at a prison disciplinary hearing than the United States Constitution.
.See Gardner v. Broderick,
. The court qualified Simmons accordingly:
“While we have no occasion to question the soundness of the result in Simmons and do not do so, to the extent that its rationale was based on a ‘tension’ between constitutional rights and the policies behind them, the validity of that reasoning must now be regarded as open to question . . . .”
Id. at 212,
. The defendant’s choice in McGautha may be distinguishable from the defendant’s decision of whether to testify at a revocation hearing because of the fewer procedural protections and lower burden of proof afforded at a revocation proceeding. See Note, Revocation of Conditional Liberty for the Commission of a Crime: Double Jeopardy and Self-Incrimination Limitations, 74 Mich.L.Rev. 525, 546 (1976).
. Justice Brennan, joined by Justice Marshall, dissenting, wrote:
“The compulsion upon Palmigiano is as obvious as the compulsion upon the individuals in Garrity-Lefkowitz. He was told that criminal charges might be brought against him . He was also told that anything he said in the disciplinary hearing could be used against him in a criminal proceeding. Thus, the possibility of self-incrimination was just as real and the threat of a penalty just as coercive.” [footnote omitted.]
The Baxter decision has received a great deal of criticism. See Note, Prisoner Rights in a Disciplinary Proceeding, 29 Baylor L.Rev. 620 (1977); Note, Constitutional Law — Prison Disciplinary Proceedings and the Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, 55 N.C.L.Rev. 254 (1977); Comment, Baxter v. Palmigiano: A Crippled Fifth Amendment Privilege for Inmates in Prison Disciplinary Proceedings, 1976 Utah L.Rev. (1976).
. See People v. Coleman,
. In Williams v. Florida,
“A criminal trial is in part a search for truth. But it is also a system designed to protect ‘freedom’ by insuring that no one is criminally punished unless the State has first succeeded in the admittedly difficult task of convincing a jury that the defendant is guilty. That task is made more difficult by the Bill of Rights, and the Fifth Amendment may be one of the most difficult of the barriers to surmount. The Framers decided that the benefits to be derived from the kind of trial required by the Bill of Rights were well worth any loss in ‘efficiency’ that resulted.”
. In Scott v. State,
. See DeVita v. Sills,
. See Chief Judge Coffin’s dissent in Flint v. Mullen,
. Melson v. Sard,
. The state can, of course, require bail or detain the individual pending disposition of the criminal charge. The American Bar Association, in its Standards Relating to Probation, supra, recommends that “upon a showing of probable cause that another crime has been committed by the probationer, the probation court should have discretionary authority to detain the probationer without bail pending a determination of the new criminal charge.” ABA Advisory Comm, on Sentencing and Review, Standards Relating to Probation, § 5.3 at 62-63 (Approved Draft 1970).
. Alaska Const, art IV, §§ 1, 15. See also McCracken v. Davis,
. This rule applies not only to the defendant’s own testimony but to the presentation of other evidence, such as witnesses and documents, which is “testimonial,” “incriminating” and “compelled.” Scott v. State,
.We think that at a subsequent criminal trial relating to the same conduct as the revocation proceeding, the state must affirmatively show that it derived its evidence from a source independent of the testimony or evidence presented by the defendant at the revocation hearing. “This burden of proof ... is not limited to a negation of taint; rather, it imposes on the prosecution the affirmative duty to prove that the evidence it proposes to use is derived from a legitimate source wholly independent of the compelled testimony.” Kastigar v. United States,
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
In State v. DeVoe,
The probationer or parolee when confronted with a revocation hearing prior to a criminal trial still must weigh several factors in deciding whether to testify. Not to testify may mean that parole or probation will be revoked because no response had been made to the state’s evidence. The commentary to the ABA standards on probation point out the greater difficulty in defending such an action:
The relative informality of a probation revocation proceeding, as compared to the trial of an original criminal charge, underlines the danger. Relaxation of rules of admissibility of evidence, the absence of a jury, a lesser burden of proof — factors such as these can lead to an abuse of the proceedings by basing revocation upon a new criminal charge when the offense could not be proved in an ordinary criminal trial.
ABA Standards relating to Probation, § 5.3, at 63 (Approved draft 1970). To testify and put forth a full defense, if successful, may still be a hollow victory. For while the parolee or probationer may be successful in persuading the parole board or the court that parole or probation should not be revoked, the prosecution has most likely been given a fairly comprehensive presentation of the parolee or probationer’s defense. At the criminal trial, the prosecution will thus be better prepared because the revocation proceeding was held prior to the trial on the underlying criminal conduct. Part of the rationale for the constitutional right against self-incrimination is that the state must bear the entire burden of proof of guilt in a criminal case and the state cannot require the defendant to contribute to that proof through his own testimony. The initial view of the accused’s defense at a revocation hearing may inappropriately lessen the state’s burden of proof at trial at the expense of the defendant’s right against self-incrimination. Thus, I agree with the position of the California Supreme Court in People v. Coleman,
Consideration of such factors led the American Bar Association to recommend that:
*1000 A revocation proceeding based solely upon commission of another crime ordinarily should not be initiated prior to the disposition of that charge. However, upon a showing of probable cause that another crime has been committed by the probationer, the probation court should have discretionary authority to detain the probationer without bail pending a determination of the new criminal charge.
This position has been adopted by the American Law Institute and, at least arguably, by several state legislatures.
The majority opinion states that “the state’s interest in initiating prompt revocation proceedings upon the occurrence of a criminal offense cannot be ignored.” The ABA Standard suggests if there is concern that the parolee or probationer will not appear or will commit further criminal activity, the court should detain the defendant without bail until the trial. In Alaska, this is not possible since there is a constitutional right to bail when criminal charges are pending under Alaska Constitution, art. I, sec. 11. Martin v. State,
Further, in McGinnis v. Stevens,
The Division of Corrections’ regulations pertaining to major infractions involving conduct constituting felonies provide for referral to the local district attorney, together with a request that he advise the institution within five working days whether prosecution will be undertaken. If the district attorney informs the institution that prosecution will be undertaken and the case goes to trial, there will be no further disciplinary action taken by the institution against the offender for the particular conduct.
I am of the view that either the parole board, Department of Health and Social Services, or the legislature should consider adopting a similar regulation or statute providing that the parole or probation officer seeking revocation based on conduct constituting a crime must refer the matter to the district attorney to consider the bringing of criminal charges. If the district attorney, within stated time constraints, informs the parole or probation officer that he will not seek criminal charges, then the officer can proceed with the revocation proceeding. If the district attorney does plan on bringing criminal charges, the parole or probation officer must suspend any revocation pro
I believe that such a procedure will adequately protect the parolee or probationer’s constitutional rights against self-incrimination while offering the state adequate measures to deal with criminal conduct committed by parolees or probationers.
BURKE and MATTHEWS, JJ., dissent on the basis that the superior court’s order of immunity unambiguously and completely protected petitioner’s privilege against self-incrimination.
. In Martin v. State,
While we hold that appellant Max Ray Martin was neither entitled to bail under the Alaska Constitution or the Alaska Bail Act, we suggest bail should be withheld pending revocation proceedings only in unusual cases. Trial judges have wide latitude in imposing suitable conditions for prehearing release, other than the denial of bail. The denial of bail may constitute a needless disruption of the probation process negating the program’s objectives of rehabilitation and eventual integration into society. Furthermore, the recent expansion in the area of probationer’s rights by the United States Supreme Court in Gagnon v. Scarpelli,411 U.S. 778 ,93 S.Ct. 1756 ,36 L.Ed.2d 656 (1973), suggests the granting of bail.
. In People v. Coleman,
Where pretrial custody is required of one accused of crime, the state has available to it procedures for requiring bail or otherwise restraining conduct which would render unnecessary immediate resort to the machinery of probation revocation in those instances where the accused happens to be a probationer.
