Jaramillo v. Turner, 11634
| Decision Date | 27 January 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 11634,11634 |
| Citation | 465 P.2d 343,24 Utah 2d 19 |
| Parties | d 19 Juan JARAMILLO, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. John W. TURNER, Warden, Utah State Prison, Defendant and Respondent. |
| Court | Utah Supreme Court |
Juan Jaramillo pro se.
Vernon B. Romney, Atty. Gen., Lauren N. Beasley, David S. Young, Asst. Attys. Gen., Salt Lake City, for defendant and respondent.
Mr. Jaramillo, the plaintiff and appellant herein, was defendant in a criminal case wherein he was charged with the crime of robbery. On February 13, 1968, he withdrew his plea of not guilty, entered a plea of guilty, and asked the court to sentence him forthwith. He did not appeal from the judgment and sentence but did on April 2, 1969, petition for a writ of habeas corpus alleging that at the time of his change of plea he was not advised of the consequences of a plea of guilty to the crime with which he was charged.
The trial record reveals that Mr. Jaramillo was interrogated by his counsel and indicated by his answers to questions that he wanted to withdraw the plea of not guilty and enter a plea of guilty to the crime of robbery. The court then interrogated him, and the following is taken from the official transcript of the proceedings:
The trial court dismissed the petition in the habeas corpus matter and denied the writ, whereupon this appeal was taken by the plaintiff herein.
Mr. Jaramillo is attempting to use the writ of habeas corpus as a means of appellate review. This he cannot do. 1 In addition to the claim made in his original petition that he was not advised as to the consequences which would follow if he entered a plea of guilty to the charge, he now attempts to enlarge his claim and asserts that counsel inadequately defended him.
Ordinarily an appellant may not raise new issues on appeal which were not presented to the trial court. 2 However, in order to prevent further erosion of the meaning of the Constitution of the United States and to revive the memory of what was originally intended by the Sixth Amendment thereto, we wish to address a few remarks to the new claim of inadequate representation by his lawyer.
To begin with, this is usually but a loophole through which guilty men hope to escape from the debts which they owe to society for past criminal behavior. It is a loophole through which other guilty men have escaped from their just desserts under the law, and it is a loophole through which guilty men will be released to prey upon law-abiding citizenry unless courts look more carefully at the requirements of the Constitution as set forth therein.
The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States so far as applicable to this matter reads: '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 defence.' (Emphasis added.)
The Amendment does not say an accused must have counsel. It simply says he shall have the right to have counsel for his defense. This meaning was the one understood by judges of the great courts of this Nation for a century and a half. The language used in the Amendment is clear and was chosen to make certain that the newly created Federal entity did not follow in the footsteps of the mother country and prevent one accused of a felony from having counsel in court to assist in his defense. In fact, it was not until 1836, some 45 years after the Bill of Rights was adopted, that one accused of felony in England was given the right to have counsel in order to assist him. 3 The Amendment was intended merely as a limitation upon the new Federal Government and was never intended to cause society upon whom the criminal preys to guarantee a lawyer free of charge to make it as difficult as possible to discover who it is that commits the foulest of crimes, and most assuredly it was never thought by anyone at the time of the adoption of the Amendment that the free representation must be by the best lawyer obtainable; and so this claim, now the last refuge of the guilty, that 'my lawyer was incompetent' should be carefully looked at.
Before a judge brands a lawyer as being incompetent, he should be assured in his own mind that he can pass the same Bar examination which the lawyer passed before being admitted to practice his profession in the courts of the land. It may be that this...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Lee
...404 F.2d 493 (5th Cir. 1968). Generally, this Court will not rule on an issue raised on appeal for the first time. Jaramillo v. Turner, 24 Utah 2d 19, 465 P.2d 343 (1970); State v. Starlight Club, 17 Utah 2d 174, 406 P.2d 912 (1965). This rule is particularly applicable to motions to suppre......
-
Codianna v. Morris
...any deficiency in the performance of counsel was prejudicial. State v. Forsyth, Utah, 560 P.2d 337, 339 (1977); Jaramillo v. Turner, 24 Utah 2d 19, 22, 465 P.2d 343, 345 (1970). In this context, prejudice means that without counsel's error there was a "reasonable likelihood that there would......
-
State v. Lairby
...any deficiency in the performance of counsel was prejudicial. State v. Forsyth, Utah, 560 P.2d 337, 339 (1977); Jaramillo v. Turner, 24 Utah 2d 19, 22, 465 P.2d 343, 345 (1970). Codianna, 660 P.2d at 1109. Our reasoning is consistent with Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 20......
-
State v. Malmrose
...is likely to have produced a different result. State v. Gray, supra; State v. Forsyth, Utah, 560 P.2d 337 (1977); Jaramillo v. Turner, 24 Utah 2d 19, 465 P.2d 343 (1970); Alires v. Turner, 22 Utah 2d 118, 449 P.2d 241 (1969). In Heinlin v. Smith, Utah, 542 P.2d 1081 (1975), we held that the......