Canizio v. People of State of New York

• Decision Date: 04 February 1946
• Docket Number: No. 152,152
• Citation: 90 L.Ed. 545,66 S.Ct. 452,327 U.S. 82
• Parties: CANIZIO v. PEOPLE OF STATE OF NEW YORK
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

327 U.S. 82

66 S.Ct. 452

90 L.Ed. 545

CANIZIO

v PEOPLE OF STATE OF NEW YORK.

No. 152.

Argued Jan. 4, 1946.

Decided Feb. 4, 1946.

Rehearing Denied March 4, 1946.

See 327 U.S. 816, 66 S.Ct. 699 Mr.Maurice Edelbaum, of Brooklyn, N.Y., for petitioner.

Mr. William I. Siegel, of Brooklyn, N.Y., for respondent.

Mr. Justice BLACK delivered the opinion of the Court.

On June 1, 1931 in the County Court of Kings County, New York, the petitioner pleaded guilty to the crime of robbery in the first degree. On June 19, 1931 that court sentenced him to serve a term of from 15 to 30 years in State prison. After the petitioner had served almost 14 years of this sentence he instituted this proceeding by a motion, coram nobis, in the King's County Court, Praying that the June 19, 1931 sentence be vacated and set aside. His motion, verified by oath, alleged that at the time of his arraignme t, guilty plea, and sentence, petitioner was 19 years old and unfamiliar with legal proceedings; that he was not represented by counsel; and that the court neither asked him whether he desired counsel to be assigned, nor advised him of his right to counsel. Petitioner's motion charged that the acceptance of his guilty plea and the sentencing under these circumstances violated Article 1, Section 6 of the New York State Constitution and Section 308 of the New York Code of Criminal Procedure, and deprived him of his liberty without due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The District Attorney filed an affidavit opposing the motion. This affidavit, based on information obtained from Court records, admitted that these failed to show that petitioner had been represented by counsel when he was arraigned and when he pleaded guilty on June 1, 1931. To overcome this apparent defect of the record the affidavit urged the presumption of regularity of judicial proceedings to support the conclusion, in the absence of a clear showing to the contrary, that the judge must have performed his duty under New York's laws to advise petitioner of his right to counsel. The District Attorney contended that petitioner's motion though verified was not sufficient to overcome this presumption, especially since petitioner's conviction occurred 14 years ago. Moreover, the affidavit denied that petitioner was not represented by counsel at the time of sentencing, and alleged that on June 17, 1931, two days before the sentence was imposed, there was filed a notice of appearance of counsel on behalf of the petitioner. Thus, according to the affidavit petitioner was represented by counsel from June 17th to June 19th, 1931. Petitioner filed no denial to this affidavit.

The Court denied petitioner's motion on the basis of the aforementioned papers including the record of the original proceeding, and without permitting petitioner to introduce any evidence. Under New York practice petitioner's mo- tion was the proper procedure to raise the Federal question. Lyons v. Goldstein, 290 N.Y. 19, 47 N.E.2d 425, 146 N.L.R. 1422. Since the Court's denial of the motion cannot be appealed to any higher New York Court, People v. Gersewitz, 294 N.Y. 163, 61 N.E.2d 427, we have jurisdiction to consider the case. Betts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 455, 461, 62 S.Ct. 1252, 1255, 86 L.Ed. 1595. We granted certiorari because the case presents an important question involving the right to counsel under the Constitution of the United States.

Before we consider this question we shall assume that petitioner was without counsel when arraigned and when he pleaded guilty and that although he was unfamiliar with his legal rights the court failed to inform him of his right to counsel. Consequently, had there been nothing to contradict petitioner's general allegation that he was not represented by counsel in the interim between his plea of guilty and the time he was sentenced, his charges would have been such as to have required the Court to hold a hearing on his motion. Rice v. Olson, 324 U.S. 786, 65 S.Ct. 989. But the District Attorney's affidavit and the record and stenographic transcripts of the original proceedings in which petitioner was sentenced show that petitioner was actively represented by counsel in long hearings during the day of sentence. In our opinion, these new facts, undenied, so far refuted petitioner's entire Constitutional claim as to justify the court's holding that a hearing on petitioner's motion was unnecessary.

These papers before the trial court showed that petitioner along with two others were originally charged under three counts. Petitioner pleaded guilty on one charge on condition that he would not be prosecuted on the other two. Thereafter, as we have indicated, an attorney appeared on his behalf in an effort to secure a low sentence. The attorney could have moved to withdraw the plea of guilty and the County Court of Kings County would have had the power to set aside the plea and let the petitioner stand trial. New York Code of Criminal Procedure, § 337; People v. Gowasky, 244 N.Y. 451, 155 N.E. 737, 58 A.L.R. 9. Petitioner's counsel probably thought it undesirable to do so, because this move might have jeopardized his chances for securing a low sentence. The plea was to robbery in the first degree, unarmed. The record clearly shows that petitioner was heavily armed. Had he been convicted of first degree robbery while armed he would in all likelihood have gotten a higher sentence. Cf. People ex rel. O'Berst v. Murphy, 256 App.Div. 58, 8 N.Y.S.2d 965; People ex rel. Pilo v. Martin, 262 App.Div. 1056, 30 N.Y.S.2d 290. At any rate, whatever the reason petitioner's counsel did not move to withdraw the guilty plea.¹ All of this demonstrated to the satisfaction of the court below that even though petitioner may not have had counsel at the beginning, he had counsel in ample time to take advantage of every defense which would have been available to him orginally. We think the record shows that petitioner actually had the benefit of counsel. When that counsel took over petitioner's defense he could have raised the question of a defect in the earlier part of the proceedings.²

Failing to do so when the statute afforded him the opportunity, we cannot say that the court denied petitioner the right to have a trial with the benefit of counsel.

Petitioner's motion was, therefore, properly denied.

Affirmed.

Mr. Justice JACKSON took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.

Mr. Justice MURPHY, dissenting.

The complete travesty of justice revealed by the record in this case forces me to dissent.

The constitutional right to assistance of counsel is a very necessary and practical one. The ordinary person accused of crime has little if any knowledge of law or experience in its application. He is illprepared to combat the arsenal of statutes, decisions, rules of procedure, technicalities of pleading and other legal weapons at the ready disposal of the prosecutor. Without counsel, many of h § elementary procedural and substantive rights may be lost irretrievably in the intricate legal maze of a criminal proceeding. Especially is this true of the ignorant, the indigent, the illiterate and the immature defendant. Powell v. State of Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 69, 53 S.Ct. 55, 64, 77 L.Ed. 158, 84 A.L.R. 527; Williams v. Kaiser, 323 U.S. 471, 474-476, 65 S.Ct. 363, 365, 366. Courts must therefore be unyielding in their insistence that this basic canon of justice, this right to counsel, be respected at all times.

Today, however, a serious qualification is added to this constitutional right to which I am unable to assent. Petitioner and two others were indicted on May 25, 1931, for three offenses: (1) Robbery in the first degree; (2) grand larceny in the second degree; and (3) assault in the second degree. They were arraigned on the same day and pleaded not guilty. Petitioner at this time was but 19 years old, indigent, poorly educated, orphaned and ignorant of his right to counsel. The court did not inform him of his right to counsel at this time and it does not appear that he competently and intelligently waived his constitutional right. Several days later, on June 1, petitioner again appeared without counsel and without being informed of his right in that respect. This time he withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty to the crime of first degree robbery. The prosecutor agreed to withdraw the other charges. On June 17, a notice of appearance of counsel on behalf of petitioner was filed. And on June 19, in the presence of this counsel, petitioner was sentenced to serve from 15 to 30 years in prison. On the basis of these facts, the Court now holds that petitioner was adequately represented by counsel. The error manifest in the denial of the right of counsel during the arraignment and the plea of guilty is held cured by the mere presence of counsel on the day of the imposition of the sentence.

It is said that, at least under New York practice, the attorney on the day of the sentencing could have moved to withdraw petitioner's plea of guilty; the judge would then have had power to set aside the plea and let the petitioner stand trial. On the assumption that the judge would have granted such a motion had it been made, the argument is advanced that petitioner had counsel in ample time to take advantage of every defense originally avail- able. Thus the conclusion is reached that this denial of the right to counsel prior to the imposition of sentence is in compliance with the Constitution.

In my opinion, however, the right to counsel means nothing unless it means the right to counsel at each and every step in a criminal proceeding. The failure at any particular point to have representation or to be aware of one's right to counsel may have an indelible and imponderable effect upon the entire proceeding, an effect which may not be erasable on the day of imposing the sentence. As was said in Glasser v. United States, ...