Lead Opinion
In thе context of its peculiar facts, leading to a conviction of aggravated robbery in violation of § 6-2-401(c)(ii), W.S.1977 (June 1983 Repl.),
The appellant, Rick Prime (Prime), states the following issues in his brief:
“I. Whether it was error for the trial court, to allow the prosecution to call Darwin Hasеlhuhn as a witness knowing that he would exercise his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify.
“II. Whether it was error to allow evidence of unduly prejudicial voice and photographic identifications to go to the jury.
“III. Whether hypnotically enhanced testimony should be allowed in a criminal trial.
“IV. Whether the court erred in refusing two jury instructions and in refusing to allow trial counsel to present argument on those instructions.”
The State of Wyoming restates the same issues in this way:'
“I. Was there error in witness Hasel-huhn’s exercise of his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify?
“II. Was there error in the procedures for voice and photographic identification? “HI. Is hypnotically enhanced testimony permissible in a сriminal trial?
“IV. Did the trial court err in refusing appellant’s proffered jury instructions?”
On the night of April 21,1984, the assistant manager and a clerk at the Safeway Store in Green River, Wyoming were the victims of an armed robbery. The store was closed and locked at approximately 10:00 P.M. that night, and the rest of the store employees had departed. The assistant manager and the clerk were counting the money from the several checkout counter tills when the assistant manager noticed two men approaching down one of the aisles. The men were wearing masks and were armed, one with a sawed-off shotgun and the other with a large knife. The first was attired in a dark coat or jacket and a ski-type mask, the other wore a green coat or jacket with a Halloween style mask that had long black hair and a face described as orange/yellow. These two men, after threatening the assistant manager and the clerk, entered a booth that served as an office and proceeded to empty the tills into a white bag. The man with the shotgun forced the assistant manager to open the bottom safe by prodding him with the shotgun.
The robbers made the assistant manager and the clerk accompany them into a back storеroom where they then tied their hands and feet and covered their eyes with duct tape. The robber wearing the Halloween
The robbers then left the store and, after freeing himself, the assistant manager promptly reported the robbery to the police. Both the assistant manager and the clerk furnished statements to investigating officers that same evening at the sсene of the crime. The assistant manager advised the officers that he recognized the man whom he had seen as a member of the crew who cleaned the floors in the store. He did not know the man’s name but, when shown a photographic array including a picture of Darwin Haselhuhn, he identified him as the man he had seen. Later, when he saw Haselhuhn in person at the preliminary examination, he positively identified him as the robber. Haselhuhn was convicted of this armed robbery, and that conviction was affirmed by this court in Haselhuhn v. State,
The assistant manager and the clerk both explained to the investigating officers that only one of the robbers spoke during the course of the robbery. The investigating officers then obtained a tape with several voice exemplars, the last of which was Prime’s voice. The voice exemplars were then played to these witnesses, and the assistant manager identified Prime’s voice as the voice of the other robber. The store clerk selected the third exemplar and the Prime exemplar as being similar to the voice that she had heard at the robbery.
During the course of the investigation, the police officers arranged hypnotic sessions for the assistant manager and the store clеrk. At trial, the assistant manager testified that he did not think he ever had been under hypnosis, and he said that his identification was not assisted by anything that occurred during the hypnotic session. The clerk, who had testified at Haselhuhn’s trial, did not testify in Prime’s case, but a statement that she had made to the police officers was received into evidence. Prime called an expert witness in his defense who explained the difficulties and problems with hypnosis and the possible results in terms of effect upon the recollection of a witness.
The evidence against Prime, in addition to that of the two victims of the robbery, encompassed in-court identification of Ha-selhuhn by the assistant manager and other witnesses; Prime’s association with Ha-selhuhn; his claim that he had spent the entire evening of April 21,1984 with Hasel-huhn; and incriminating allusions to the robbery which Prime and Haselhuhn had made to other witnesses who testified. In addition, Prime was identified as having entered the Safeway Store between 9:30 and 10:00 P.M. on the night of the robbery. That witness, and others, had seen Hasel-huhn enter the store also, but no one had seen either of them leave.
During the course of the trial, the record reflects that when Darwin Haselhuhn was presented in the courtroom, the following occurred:
“[COUNTY ATTORNEY]: State calls Darwin Haselhuhn as an adverse witness.
“THE COURT: Have you been sworn? “MR. HASELHUHN: No, I haven’t, Your Honor. I decline to be sworn in and I decline to answer any questions. “THE COURT: You’ll be sworn in, mister. Now raise your right hand.
“MR. HASELHUHN: (No response). “THE COURT: Raise your right hand. “MR. HASELHUHN: I decline to be sworn in, Your Honor.
“THE COURT: All right. I find you in direct contempt of Court. I remand you to the custody of the Sheriff to be held there until you answer and/or sworn or sentenced otherwise; is that clear? “MR. HASELHUHN: That’s clear, Your Honor.
“THE COURT: All right. Take him out.”
Following this colloquy, a motion for a mistrial was made on behalf of Prime claiming that the circumstances were preju
“THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, the fact that I found Mr. Haselhuhn in contempt of Court and remanded him to the custody of the Sheriff, has no bearing on the innocenee or guilt of Mr. Prime. You will not consider it. You may continue.”
The appearance in the courtroom had been preceded by a conference in chambers in which the court granted immunity to Ha-selhuhn from the use of his testimony against him, and Haselhuhn affirmed his position that he would not testify because of possible prejudice relating to federal charges and other charges against him. At that conference, Prime’s counsel also complained abоut the loss of any opportunity to cross-examine.
We address, first, the claim of error arising out of the circumstances in which Haselhuhn was presented before the jury and exercised his right not to testify by refusing to be sworn as a witness. In substance, the inverse of this situation occurred at Haselhuhn’s trial when Prime, upon being presented for the administration of the oath, advised the court in front of the jury that he would refuse to testify. The court there addressed the claim that Haselhuhn had been deprived of his right of confrontation because he was not permitted to cross-examine Prime with respect to conduct which was perсeived by Hasel-huhn as being equivalent to testimony. We there explained that there was no violation of the right of confrontation under those circumstances.
In that case, like this case, Haselhuhn moved for a mistrial, but he did not request that a cautionary instruction be given to the jury. In this case, Prime moved for a mistrial, but he made no complaint with respect to the advice which the district court gave the jury. We reiterate our statement in Haselhuhn,
Prime argues in his next claim of error that he was entitled to the assistance of counsel in connection with the photographic array and the voice exemplars which were utilized to assist in the identification of the perpetrators of the robbery. Prime invites the cоurt to extend the right to counsel to preindictment stages which would include the preparation of the photographic array and the voice exemplars. Counsel is not required, in such instances, by the United States Constitution, Kirby v. Illinois,
Prime argues, in addition, that these identification procedures did not meet the requirements of due process articulated in Rochin v. California,
« * * * |ijrj0 reasonaj)]e person it is just a photograph presented to support the testimony. Admission of evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and absent a clear abuse of discretion will not be disturbed.” McDaniel,632 P.2d at 536 .
We have examined the record to determine if the totality of thе circumstances was suggestive, and we conclude that it was not. Both the assistant manager and the clerk fulfilled the criteria articulated in Reinholt v. State,
Lastly, Prime complains of the failure to give two instructions which he contends set forth his theory of the case. Those requested instructions read:
“DEFENDANT’S PROPOSED INSTRUCTION # B
“A witness who has been hypnotized does not automatically become incompetent as a witness because of the hypnosis. His testimony, if believed by the jury, may be sufficiently convincing tо persuade the decision; even though not corroborated or supported by other evidence.
“However, the jury should keep in mind that such testimony is always to be received with caution and weighed with*154 great care. You should subject such testimony to careful examination in the light of all the other evidence in the case. You ought not to convict upon such testimony alone, unless after a careful examination of such testimony, you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of its reliability.
“Careful consideration must be given to the manner of the hypnosis in order to ascertain the testimony's reliability. You must assure yourselves that hypnotically enhanced testimony does not reflect suggested pseudo memories or fantasies that are accepted as real by the witness and hypnotist alike.”
“DEFENDANT’S PROPOSED INSTRUCTION #H
“One of the most important issues in this case is the identification of the Defendant as the perpetrator of the crime. The State has the burden of proving identity, beyond a reasonable doubt. It is not essential that the witness himself be free from doubt as to the correctness of his statement. However, you, the jury, must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of the accuracy of the identification of the Defendant before you convict him. If you are not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant was the person who committed the crime, you must find the Defendant not guilty. “Identification testimony is an expression of belief or impression by the witness. Its value depends on the opportunity the witness had to observe the offender at the time of the offense and to make a reliable identification later.”
The court adequately advised the jury with respect to its prerogatives as to credibility and the burden of proof in other instructions. The proposed instructions by Prime are a skillful effort to induce the trial court to argue the case for the defense through its instructions.
Our rule is that a court may refuse a requested instruction if it has been covered by other instructions, Benson v. State,
So far as Prime’s argument is concerned that these instructions set forth his theory of the case, we do not accept that invitation. Not every matter of trial strategy or tactics constitutes the theory of the defendant’s cáse. We recognize that Prime’s theory wаs that the testimony of the hypnotized witnesses was suspect and was not entitled to any moment in the deliberations of the jury. Nevertheless, that is simply Prime’s theory with respect to this aspect of the evidence; we do not perceive that it was his theory of the case. His theory of the case was that someone else, not Prime, committed this robbery. We eschew a rule that every instruction offered by a defendant must be given if he characterizes it as incorporating his theory of the case.
We hold that there was no prejudicial error with respect to any of the matters complained of by Prime. The judgment and sentence of the district court is affirmed.
URBIGKIT, J., files a dissenting opinion.
Notes
. Section 6-2-401, W.S.1977 (June 1983 Repl.), provides, in pertinent part:
*150 "(a) A person is guilty of robbery if in the course of committing a crime defined by W.S. 6-3-402 he:
"(i) Inflicts bodily injury upon another; or "(ii) Threatens another with or intentionally puts him in fear of immediate bodily injury. ******
"(c) Aggravated robbery is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not less than five (5) years nor more than twenty-five (25) years if in the course of committing the crime of robbery the person:
"(i) Intentionally inflicts or attempts to inflict serious bodily injury; or "(ii) Uses or exhibits a deadly weapon or a simulated deadly weapon.”
Section 6-3-402, W.S.1977 (June 1983 Repl.), provides, in pertinent рart:
"(a) A person who steals, takes and carries, leads or drives away property of another with intent to deprive the owner or lawful possessor is guilty of larceny."
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
This is the third appeal resulting from the Green River, Wyoming Safeway store robbery. In Haselhuhn v. State,
Now presented as the separate trial of the alleged co-conspirator, this appeal presents the outrageous results demonstrated in the Engberg death penalty case, Engberg v. State,
THE COURT: All right. I find you in direct contempt of Court. I remand you to the custody of the Sheriff to be held there until you answer and/or sworn or sentenced otherwise; is that clear?
MR. HASELHUHN: That’s clear, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Take him out.
And then, after mistrial was denied, the further emphasis afforded:
THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, the fact that I found Mr. Haselhuhn in contempt of Court and remanded him to the custody of the Sheriff, has no bearing on the innocence or guilt of Mr. Prime. You will not consider it. You may continue.
Sweetwater County, as a community with a medium-sized population and one major newspaper, belies any possibility that all one dozen of the sitting jurors had not been previously exposed to knowledge
I cannot, in repetition from Haselhuhn I, again re-emphasize sufficiently the disapproval I have for this tactic of engendered prejudice by procedure. I would repeat, as recently stated in Corson v. State,
“A keen observer has said that ‘next to perjury, prejudice is the main cause of miscarriages of justice.’ If government counsel in a criminal suit is allowed to inflame the jurors by irrelevantly arousing their deepest prejudices, the jury may become in his hands a lethal weapon directed against defendants who may be innocent. He should not be permitted to summon that thirteenth juror, prejudice.”
State v. Beuke,
2.EYE-WITNESS EXAMINATION
As the expression goes, this court has now dropped the second shoe in blindly ignoring solutions to the pervasive eye-witness identifiсation danger resulting in opportunity for false conviction. In Engberg, the majority abjured use of the well-established expert witness and this court now rejects the use of the special instruction launched by United States v. Telfaire,
3.HYPNOTIC INFUSED TESTIMONY
The errors in this record do not there end. The hypnotic activity is still not sanitized since first involved in Engberg, although at least progression occurred from Haselhuhn I in that the expert witness was now permitted. Citations of the court to Rock v. Arkansas,
4.RIGHT TO COUNSEL
The fourth issue presented attends to the right to counsel when photographic dis
It is apparent from examining the photographs and in listening to the tape that two features distinguished Prime. As to the photograph, any juror who has experience with criminal processes would have recognized an in-jail identification photograph when the name plate is hung by a chain from his neck, which chain can be clearly seen. The voice identification was also clearly identified since only this witness was given taped instructions as to what he was to say, while obviously such instructions as had been given to the other witnesses were not included on the tape excerpts. Had counsel for Prime been given the opportunity to be present at either incident or to examine the work product to be used, a clean up could simplistically have been provided so that the potentate of non-equivalency and unfairness would have been removed.
Recognizing the conviction to have been fueled and fertilized by what occurred: prejudice by procedure, hypnotism, denied instruction or expert testimony, and ignored post appointеd right to effective assistance of counsel, I respectfully dissent from error absolving approval. I would reverse for retrial.
. I also have another serious concern from a speedy trial perspective, although not on issues argued below or presented here on appeal. With an offense that occurred on April 21, 1984, Prime was arrested on June 7, 1984, and was provided a preliminary hearing on June 25, 1984. His date of district court arraignment is not of record but apparently occurred on July 5, 1984. Motion to suppress, motion for preservation of evidence, motion in limine and motion to reveal agreements were filed July 6, 1984, with supporting memorandum filed December 12, 1984. A motion was filed December 27, 1984 by the prosecution for further time to respond up to and including January 10, 1985, which was apparently submitted ex parte and approved by order of the district court. The responsive brief was duly filed, and on January 22, 1985, the district court wrote counsel advising of some relief on the matter and that the prosecuting attorney would prepare an appropriate order which was never done. The prosecuting attorney filed a motion for trial setting on August 22, 1985, the case was then first set for trial April 8, 1986 and actually held on May 13, 1986, or slightly less than twenty-four months after the offense had occurred and slightly more than twenty-two months after arraignment in district court. Rule 204, Wyoming Uniform Rules for the District Courts provides:
(a) It is the responsibility of court and counsel to insure to each person charged with crime a speedy trial.
(b) A criminal charge shall be brought to trial within 120 days following the filing of information or indictment.
(c) The following periods shall be excluded in computing the time for trial:
(1) All proceedings related to the mental illness or deficiency of the defendant.
(2) Proceedings on another charge.
(3) Delay granted by the court pursuant to Section (d).
(4) The time between the dismissal and the refiling of the same charge.
(5) Delay occasioned by defendant’s change of counsel or application therefor.
(d) Continuances may be granted as follows:
(1) On motion of defendant supported by affidavit of defendant and defendant’s counsel.
(2) On motion of the prosecuting attorney or the court if:
(i) The defendant expressly consents; or
(ii) The state’s evidence is unavailable and the prosecution has exercised due diligence; or
(iii) Required in the due administration of justice and the defendant will not be substantially prejudiced.
(e) Upon. receiving notice of possible delay the defendant shall show in writing how the delay may prejudice his defense.
(f) If the defendant is unavailable for any proceeding at which his presence is required, the time period shall begin anew upon defendant's being availablе.
At least, in this case, Prime was out on bond during the delayed trial period.
. In brief, the State contends:
In the case at bar, the photographic and voice identification procedures were executed before adversarial criminal proceedings were commenced against Appellant, therefore the Sixth Amendment right to counsel did not attach at the time of the identifications.
The offense occurred April 21, 1984, and on June 6, a criminal warrant for aggravated robbery was issued and executed on June 7. On June 11, Mr. Robert J. Reese had entered an appearance as counsel, since the record reflects that he was given copies of documentation except affidavit for arrest warrant. Preliminary hearing was held June 25, and Prime was bound over to district court. The preliminary hearing was obviously a contested proceeding. The district court information was signed and filed July 5, and motions to suppress voice identification and for preservation of evidence and motion in limine were served July 6. Two items of photographic identification were used: State’s Exhibit 43, which is a collection of separate mug shots numbering six; and State’s Exhibit 42, which is a photographic display including the photograph of Prime. It is simply not possiblе to tell from the record whether the photographic display was composed and then used for identification after Mr. Reese had been appointed to serve as counsel for Prime. As a matter of fact, the record does not even reflect how Mr. Reese came to be appointed.
A careful reading of the entire record as the transcripts then finally reveal that apparently the voice exemplars were played for the two principal witnesses on July 3, 1984, at a date substantially after counsel had been appointed and also after Prime had been bоund over for trial to the district court. Clearly, no effort was made to permit defense counsel to either be available when the original search warrant exemplar was obtained from Prime, which date cannot be determined because the search warrant is not available, or when the identification session was conducted by presentation of the tape of the seven individuals to the two witnesses separately on July 3. Consequently, any general discussion in this context as defining an issue of the right to counsel prior to "commencement of adversarial criminal proceedings” against Prime has no factual validity in the record documentation.
