Dyett v. Turner

• Decision Date: 22 March 1968
• Docket Number: No. 11089,11089
• Citation: 439 P.2d 266,20 Utah 2d 403
• Parties: d 403 Gerald J. DYETT, Plaintiff, v. John W. TURNER, Warden, Utah State Prison, Defendant.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

Page 266

439 P.2d 266

20 Utah 2d 403

Gerald J. DYETT, Plaintiff, v. John W. TURNER, Warden, Utah State Prison, Defendant.

No. 11089.

Supreme Court of Utah.

March 22, 1968.

Del B. Rowe, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Phil L. Hansen, Atty. Gen., Salt Lake City, for defendant.

ELLETT, Justice:

The plaintiff, Mr. Dyett, is confined in the state prison of the State of Utah as a result of a plea of guilty entered to a charge of issuing a check against insufficient funds with intent to defraud. He filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Federal District Court here, which was denied. Thereafter he filed an amended petition in the same court. At the time of denying this amended petition the judge wrote a memorandum decision in which he indicated a disposition to release the petitioner from prison but thought he could do so only after all state remedies had been exhausted. He said:

Accordingly, the amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus must be and is hereby denied, without prejudice to the filing of a further petition at such time as plaintiff may have exhausted his state remedies upon the specific claim herein discussed. 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

He further said:

It is clear from the foregoing authorities that plaintiff had a constitutional right to be represented by counsel before the state district court at the time of his plea of guilty and that the facts appearing of record do not establish waiver of that right as a matter of law. Whether an understanding, intelligent and voluntary waiver is shown by a preponderance of the evidence calls for a judgment on the facts on which there now is no record determination by state authority which is controlling upon this court under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 as amended by Pub.L. 89--711, 80 Stat. 1104.

We feel that our decision in this matter should not be subject to reversal by inferior courts of the federal system. However, it is rather obvious that such a proceeding is likely to occur unless we turn the prisoner loose upon society. While we deplore such a situation as is now foisted upon the states by various rulings of the United States Supreme Court and acts of Congress based upon such rulings, yet we want it understood that we do not think the particular Utah federal district judge is in any manner to blame. He acts under the direction of the Supreme Court of the United States and must faithfully carry out the law as he believes that court would have him to do. We personally know him to be one of the finest of men, an excellent lawyer, and a good judge. What we have to say hereafter is not meant as any reflection upon him in any manner whatsoever.

This situation presents an opportunity to review the constitutional provisions in order to determine if any rights of this defendant have been violated.

We first direct our attention to the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which so far as material provides:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, * * * and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. (Emphasis added.)

It does not say he shall have counsel. It only says he shall have the right to have the assistance of counsel for his defense, and the right to have counsel does not justify a court in forcing a lawyer upon an accused who does not want one. See State v. Penderville, 2 Utah 2d 281, 272 P.2d 195; Moore v. State of Michigan, 355 U.S. 155, 78 S.Ct. 191, 2 L.Ed.2d 167.

To understand this amendment, one must look to the situation which prevailed at the time of the adoption of the first ten amendments. In England a defendant in a misdemeanor case had the right to have counsel with him in court. A felony charge being initiated by the Crown was looked upon as a different matter, and one accused of felony was not permitted to contest with the Crown by means of a lawyer. In fact, it was not until 1836 that a defendant accused of a felony in England was permitted the right to have counsel in court. See 21 Am.Jur.2d, Criminal Law § 309. It was the fear of the states that the newly created federal entity might attempt to follow the Crown in refusing a defendant the right to have counsel which caused this amendment to be written into the so-called Bill of Rights. This was simply a limitation upon the Federal Government and in nowise was supposed to be applicable to the states. In fact, the Tenth Amendment was adopted to make sure that the federal entity did not take unto itself any powers not specifically granted to it. That amendment reads:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

For over 140 years more than 70 justices of the Supreme Court consistently held that the first ten amendments to the Constitution applied as a limitation to the Federal Government only and not in any manner to the states, and for 70 years following the so-called adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment some 35 justices from every corner of the Nation have held that the Fourteenth Amendment did not make the first ten amendments applicable to the states. Some of those justices had helped to frame the original Constitution and the first ten amendments and had worked to secure the adoption thereof. Others had participated in the war between the states and were acquainted at firsthand with the purposes intended to be accomplished by the Fourteenth Amendment. All of them interpreted the Constitution, including the amendments, with knowledge and wisdom born of intimacy with the problems which had called forth the documents in the first place.

The United States Supreme Court, as at present constituted, has departed from the Constitution as it has been interpreted from its inception and has followed the urgings of social reformers in foisting upon this Nation laws which even Congress could not constitutionally pass. It has amended the Constitution in a manner unknown to the document itself. While it takes three fourths of the states of the Union to change the Constitution legally, yet as few as five men who have never been elected to office can by judicial fiat accomplish a change just as radical as could three fourths of the states of this Nation. As a result of the recent holdings of that Court, the sover-eignty of the states is practically abolished, and the erst while free and independent states are now in effect and purpose merely closely supervised units in the federal system.

We do not believe that justices of once free and independent states should surrender their constitutional powers without being heard from. We would betray the trust of our people if we sat supinely by and permitted the great bulk of our powers to be taken over by the federal courts without at least stating reasons why it should not be so. By attempting to save the dual relationship which has heretofore existed between state and federal authority and which is clearly set out in the Constitution, we think we act in the best interest of our country.

We feel like galley slaves chained to our oars by a power from which we cannot free ourselves, but like slaves of old we think we must cry out when we can see the boat heading into the maelstrom directly ahead of us; and by doing so, we hope the master of the craft will heed the call and avert the dangers which confront us all. But by raising our voices in protest we, like the galley slaves of old, expect to be lashed for doing so. We are confident that we will not be struck by 90 per cent of the people of this Nation who long for the return to the days when the Constitution was a document plain enough to be understood by all who read it, the meaning of which was set firmly like a jewel in the matrix of common sense and wise judicial decisions. We shall not complain if those who berate us belong to that small group who refuse to take an oath that they will not overthrow this government by force. When we bare our legal backs to receive the verbal lashes, we will try to be brave; and should the great court of these United States decide that in our thinking we have committed error, then we shall indeed feel honored, for we will then be placed on an equal footing with all those great justices who at this late date are also said to have been in error for so many years.

In addition to what we have said about the meaning of the Federal Constitution, we are disturbed in the attitude of the criminal element in our society since the federal courts have arrogated unto themselves the powers and duties which rightfully belong to the state courts. It is a daily occurrence when some known burglar or thief flouts a police officer and threatens to 'get his badge,' and threatens the trial judge with having him taken before the judge of the federal court.

For many years Utah has been at the very head of our states in the Union in the matter of rehabilitation of prisoners. Our efforts have been directed toward teaching the wayfaring man to cease to do evil and to learn to do good. We have 20 trial judges, and everyone of them utilizes probation personnel in trying to supervise defendants who are placed on probation. In all of our 29 counties, some of which are sparsely inhabited, we have the services of trained men who are instrumental in securing employment for the defendants and of giving them 'on-the-job training.'

The records of the Adult Probation and Parole Board show that some 63 per cent of all defendants who are either found guilty or who plead guilty are placed on probation, and of that number 75 per cent are faithful to their probationary obligations. Those records further show that of those more hardened criminals who are first committed to prison and then placed on parole, over 62 per cent keep faith with their trust. Always the welfare of the man is the principal objective in the attempt to make useful citizens out of prisoners. We have an accredited high school...