Michigan v. Payne 8212 1005

Decision Date21 May 1973
Docket NumberNo. 71,71
PartiesState of MICHIGAN, Petitioner, v. Leroy PAYNE. —1005
CourtU.S. Supreme Court
Syllabus

The 'prophylactic' due process limitations established by North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 723—726, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 2079—2081, 23 L.Ed.2d 656, to guard against the possibility of vindictiveness in cases where a judge imposes a more severe sentence upon a defendant after a new trial, are not retroactively applicable to resentencing proceedings that, like the one involved in this case, occurred prior to the date of the Pearce decision. Pp. 50—57.

386 Mich. 84, 191 N.W.2d 375, reversed and remanded.

John A. Smietanka, St. Joseph, Mich., for petitioner.

James R. Neuhard, Detroit, Mich., for respondent.

Mr. Justice POWELL delivered the opinion of the Court.

A writ of certiorari was granted in this case, 409 U.S. 911, 93 S.Ct. 214, 34 L.Ed.2d 172 (1972), to decide whether the due process holding of North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 723 726, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 2079—2081, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969), is to be given retroactive effect. For the reasons that follow we hold today that this decision is nonretroactive.

I

Respondent, Leroy Payne, pleaded guilty in a county circuit court in Michigan to a charge of assault with intent to commit murder in connection with an armed attack upon two sheriff's deputies. In March 1963 he was sentenced to a prison term of from 19 to 40 years. Several years later, respondent's conviction and sentence were set aside when a hearing, ordered by the Michigan Court of Appeals, disclosed that his confession and subsequent guilty plea were involuntary. Following a retrial, at which he exercised his rights to trial by jury and to plead innocent, respondent again was found guilty on the same assault charge. On August 30, 1967, he was resentenced to prison from 25 to 50 years with full credit for all time served under the prior sentence. During the resentencing hearing, the judge explained that the higher sentence was 'based on the nature of the crime and on the impressions which I formed of (respondent) and of the crime.'

Respondent appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which affirmed his conviction was approved the higher sentence. 18 Mich.App. 42, 170 N.W.2d 523 (1969). While the case was pending before the Michigan Supreme Court, the trial judge who had presided over respondent's second trial was requested to submit an affidavit detailing his reasons for imposing a higher sentence. The judge's affidavit stated that his sentencing determination was based primarily on (i) has personal belief that respondent's attitude since the first sentencing proceeding had changed from one of regret to remorselessness, (ii) his view that respondent's alibi defense, given under oath, was a 'tissue of lies,' and (iii) his heightened opportunity to learn of the details of the crime during the three-day trial.1 The Michigan Supreme Court, in a 4-to-3 decision, upheld the conviction but rejected the higher sentence as violative of the due process restrictions established in North Carolina v. Pearce, supra. 386 Mich. 84, 191 N.W.2d 375 (1971). The court recognized that this Court had not yet decided whether Pearce applied to resentencing proceedings which, as in this case, occurred prior to Pearce's date of decision.2 While declining to predict how the retroactivity question would ultimately be resolved, the Michigan Supreme Court decided to apply Pearce to the case then before it 'pending clarification' by this Court. Id., at 90 n. 3, 191 N.W.2d, at 378 n. 2. Before this Court, the State contends that Pearce should not be applied retrospectively, but that, even if applicable, the state supreme court erred in holding the higher sentence invalid under the Pearce test. Because we hold today that Pearce does not apply retroactively, we do not reach the State's second contention.3

II

In Pearce, the Court emphasized that '(i)t can hardly be doubted' that, while 'there exists no absolute constitutional bar to the imposition of a more severe sentence upon retrial,' it would be entirely impermissible for judges to render harsher penalties as punishment for those defendants who have succeeded in getting their convictions reversed. 395 U.S., at 723, 89 S.Ct., at 2079. '(V) indictiveness' against a defendant for having exercised his rights to appeal or to attack his conviction collaterally, the Court held, 'must play no part in the sentence (a defendant) receives after a new trial.' Id., at 725, 89 S.Ct., at 2080. In so holding, the Court recognized that 'fundamental notions of fairness embodied within the concept of due process' absolutely preclude the imposition of sentences based upon such a "retaliatory motivation." Chaffin v. Stynchcombe, 412 U.S. 17, at 25, 93 S.Ct. 1977, at 1982, 36 L.Ed.2d 714. No 'new' constitutional rule was thereby established and it cannot be questioned that this basic due process protection an- ticulated in Pearce is available equalty to defendants resentenced before and after the date of decision in that case. On this point the parties do not disagree.

The dispute in this case centers, instead, around the 'prophylactic'4 limitations Pearce established to guard against the possibility of vindictiveness in the resentencing process. Those limitations, applicable 'whenever a judge imposes a more severe sentence upon a defendant after a new trial,' 395 U.S., at 726, 89 S.Ct., at 2081, require that the sentencing judge's reasons 'must affirmatively appear,' and that those reasons 'must be based upon objective information concerning identifiable conduct on the part of the defendant occurring after the time of the original sentencing proceeding.' Ibid. The question here is whether these restrictions govern resentencing proceedings predating Pearce.

The contours of the retroactivity inquiry have been clearly delineated in numerous decisions over the last decade. The test utilized repeatedly by this Court to ascertain whether 'new' constitutional protections in the area of criminal procedure are to be applied retroactively calls for the consideration of three criteria: '(a) the purpose to be served by the new standards, (b) the extent of the reliance by law enforcement authorities on the old standards, and (c) the effect on the administration of justice of a retroactive application of the new standards.' Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 297, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 1970, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 (1967). See also Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U.S. 618, 629, 636, 85 S.Ct. 1731, 1737, 1741, 14 L.Ed.2d 601 (1965); Tehan v. Shott, 382 U.S. 406, 410—418, 86 S.Ct. 459, 461—466, 15 L.Ed.2d 453 (1966); Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U.S. 719, 726—727, 86 S.Ct. 1772, 1777 1778, 16 L.Ed.2d 882 (1966).

The two purposes for the resentencing restrictions imposed by Pearce were to ensure (i) 'that vindictiveness against a defendant for having successfully attacked his first conviction . . . (would) play no part in the sentence he receives after a new trial . . .' and (ii) that apprehension of such vindictiveness would not 'deter a defendant's exercise of the right to appeal or collaterally attack his first conviction. . . .' 395 U.S., at 725, 89 S.Ct., at 2080; Colten v. Kentucky, 407 U.S. 104, 116, 92 S.Ct. 1953, 1960, 32 L.Ed.2d 584 (1972). The latter purpose is not pertinent to this case, since respondent was not deterred from exercising his right to challenge his first conviction. But, in any event, we think it clear that this function of the new resentencing rules could be served only in futuro: nothing in Pearce suggests that the Court contemplated that its decision might provide a ground for the untimely reopening of appeals by defendants who decided not to appeal prior to the date of decision in Pearce.5 See James v. Copinger, 441 F.2d 23 (CA4 1971).

The first-articulated purpose of the Pearce rules—to protect against the possibility that actual vindictiveness will infect a resentencing proceeding—deserves closer scrutiny. Unlike the purposes underlying many of the decisions heretofore accorded retrospective application,6 this purpose does not implicate the "fair determination' of . . . guilt or innocence.' Roberts v. Russell, 392 U.S. 293, 294, 88 S.Ct. 1921, 1922, 20 L.Ed.2d 1100 (1968) (emphasis supplied). It does, however, involve questions touching on the 'integrity' of one aspect of the judicial process. McConnell v. Rhay, 393 U.S. 2, 3, 89 S.Ct. 32, 33, 21 L.Ed.2d 2 (1968). The Pearce restrictions serve to ensure that resentencing decisions will not be based on improper considerations, such as a judge's unarticulated resentment at having been reversed on appeal, or his subjective institutional interest in discouraging meritless appeals. By eliminating the possibility that these factors might occasion enhanced sentences, the Pearce prophylactic rules assist in guaranteeing the propriety of the sentencing phase of the criminal process. In this protective role, Pearce is analogous to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), in which the Court established rules to govern police practices during custodial interrogations in order to safeguard the rights of the accused and to assure the reliability of statements made during those interrogations. Thus, the prophylactic rules in Pearce and Miranda are similar in that each was designed to preserve the integrity of a phase of the criminal process. Because of this similarity, we find that Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U.S. 719, 86 S.Ct. 1772, 16 L.Ed.2d 882 (1966), which held Miranda nonretroactive, provides considerable guidance here. See also Jenkins v. Delaware, 395 U.S. 213, 89 S.Ct. 1677, 23 L.Ed.2d 253 (1969).

It is an inherent attribute of prophylactic constitutional rules, such as those established in Miranda and Pearce, that their retrospective application will occasion windfall benefits for some defendants who have suffered no constitutional deprivation. Miranda's...

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