State v. Bennett, 980072.

• Citation: 2000 UT 34,999 P.2d 1
• Decision Date: 11 February 2000
• Docket Number: No. 980072.,980072.
• Parties: STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Eugene Reed BENNETT, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Supreme Court of Utah

999 P.2d 1

2000 UT 34

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Eugene Reed BENNETT, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 980072.

Supreme Court of Utah.

February 11, 2000.

Jan Graham, Att'y Gen., Joanne C. Slotnik, Asst. Att'y Gen., Salt Lake City, and John Kelly West, Tooele, for plaintiff.

David J. Angerhofer, Salt Lake City, for defendant.

RUSSON, Justice:

¶1 Eugene Reed Bennett appeals his convictions for sodomy and rape of a child. Bennett argues that being compelled to appear at trial in prison clothes violated his rights to due process and effective assistance of counsel.

¶2 On October 16, 1991, Bennett was tried before a jury in Third District Court. Bennett was represented by court-appointed counsel. Just prior to the first day of trial, Bennett received the clothing he had been wearing when he was booked into jail a few months earlier. Because Bennett had gained weight while incarcerated, his pants tore when he put them on. For the first day of trial, Bennett wore the only other clothing available to him, a blue jumpsuit, clearly marked with the label "Tooele County Jail" stenciled in block letters across the back. Bennett wore the jail jumpsuit during jury selection and the first part of his trial. The court did not inquire why Bennett was dressed in this manner, and Bennett's attorney did not request a postponement or continuance until civilian clothing could be obtained. On the second day of trial, Bennett's mother brought civilian clothing, which he wore. The jury convicted Bennett of two counts of sodomy on a child and one count of rape of a child.

¶3 On appeal,¹ Bennett asserts that his appearance in jail clothing violated his right to due process. In Chess v. Smith, 617 P.2d 341, 344 (Utah 1980), this court held that a defendant is entitled to appear at trial in civilian clothing unless the defendant affirmatively waives that right. We stated, "The prejudicial effect that flows from a defendant's appearing before a jury in identifiable prison garb is not measurable, and it is so potentially prejudicial as to create a substantial risk of fundamental unfairness in a criminal trial." Id. We further held that "a trial judge should on his own initiative inquire of a defendant whether he wishes to waive his right not to appear in prison clothes so that the record affirmatively shows an intelligent and conscious waiver by the defendant if the defendant chooses to stand trial in prison clothes." Id. at 345.

¶4 The State concedes that, unless overruled, Chess mandates reversal of Bennett's conviction. We decline the State's invitation to overrule Chess. Accordingly, we reverse Bennett's conviction.

¶5 Chief Justice HOWE concurs in Justice RUSSON's opinion.

ZIMMERMAN, Justice, concurring:

¶6 I concur in the majority opinion and in that of Justice Durham. I write separately to address a bedrock judicial principle which I think the State has too easily passed over — stare decisis.

¶7 We held in Chess v. Smith, 617 P.2d 341, 345 (Utah 1980), that a trial judge has the responsibility to inquire as to why a defendant is appearing in court in prison clothes, even in the absence of defense objection. Absent such an inquiry and a reasoned determination that such an appearance is necessary, automatic reversal is the consequence. The United States Supreme Court, in Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 48 L.Ed.2d 126 (1976), struck this balance differently and held that in such a circumstance, the trial judge has no such responsibility. It concluded that the defendant must raise an objection to appearing in prison clothes. See id. at 512, 96 S.Ct. 1691.

¶8 The State and the dissent urge us to overrule Chess and follow Estelle. But both ignore the fact that we do not lightly overrule our prior opinions. See State v. Menzies, 889 P.2d 393, 399 (Utah 1994). In Menzies, we stated that given the great importance stare decisis has for the American system of common law, we will not overrule prior cases unless we are "clearly convinced that the rule was originally erroneous or is no longer sound because of changing conditions and that more good than harm will come by departing from precedent." Id. (citations omitted). Neither the State nor the dissent has begun to meet this standard. We have not been presented any compelling reasons to conclude, as Menzies requires, that the original ruling was wrong, or that circumstances have changed and more harm than good will come from adhering to Chess. No one suggests that prisoners should appear in jail garb, or that it is not highly prejudicial. All that is argued is that trial judges should not be responsible for inquiring about this obvious fact when it occurs. No real reason is offered as to why this is so burdensome.² Indeed, this is the first time the issue has been raised in the nineteen years since Chess, a fact that suggests trial judges and defense counsel have taken care of the problem nicely.

¶9 At bottom, the only justification offered for overruling Chess is that the 1976 holding in Estelle is contrary to our 1980 holding in Chess. Yet when Chess was decided, this court examined the Estelle case and chose not to follow the United States Supreme Court, as we are free to do. In other words, the State and the dissent simply disagree with Chess and the balance it struck between the interest in a judge's need to assure a fair trial and the usual requirement that a party object to errors before the trial court must act. Whatever the merit of that view, the then-members of this court chose otherwise in Chess, after weighing these interests. By so doing, they foreclosed our second-guessing them. We are not entitled to overturn their vote simply as an exercise of the raw power of incumbency. This would amount to a frontal assault on the principle of stare decisis. See generally State v. Shoulderblade, 905 P.2d 289, 292 (Utah 1995); Menzies, 889 P.2d at 398-99; State v. Thurman, 846 P.2d 1256, 1269 (Utah 1993). We must find the relatively high hurdle of Menzies is cleared, which has not been done here.

¶10 The only solid reason I can find for the State's taking the extraordinary step of seeking an overruling of Chess is a concern that the evidence against defendant is overwhelming and the State does not want us to reverse the conviction. But such a result-oriented approach is not a legitimate basis for overruling a prior decision of this court. Reversals are part of the price we pay for having a system of law, rather than a system of ad hoc results. If the evidence is so strong, there is no reason to think that if the defendant is tried again, the same result would not be reached.

¶11 Associate Chief Justice DURHAM concurs in Justice ZIMMERMAN's concurring opinion.

DURHAM, Associate Chief Justice, concurring in the result:

¶12 I concur in the result reached by the majority because I believe that the rule announced in Chess v. Smith, 617 P.2d 341 (Utah 1980), is fundamentally sound.³ However, in light of the State's argument that we must overrule Chess because it conflicts with the controlling United States Supreme Court interpretation of the federal right to due process, I believe this court should clarify the grounds upon which the rule announced in Chess is based. To this end, I would disclaim any reliance on federal due process jurisprudence, and would instead announce, pursuant to our supervisory power, a state rule consistent with Chess v. Smith, 617 P.2d 341 (Utah 1980).

¶13 This court's supervisory power is an inherent power which has been recognized in many cases. See, e.g., State v. Arguelles, 921 P.2d 439, 442 (Utah 1996) (noting, in ineffective assistance of counsel case, that "pursuant to our inherent supervisory power over the courts, we may presume prejudice in circumstances where it is unnecessary and ill-advised to pursue a case-by-case inquiry to weigh actual prejudice" (internal citations and quotation omitted)); State v. Gordon, 913 P.2d 350, 353 (Utah 1996) (noting, in ineffective assistance of counsel case, that court's inherent supervisory power over courts is well settled); State v. Carter, 888 P.2d 629, 650 (Utah 1995) (advising, pursuant to inherent supervisory power, that trial courts should be more conservative when making for-cause determinations regarding potential jurors in capital cases); State v. Menzies, 889 P.2d 393, 407 n.7 (Utah 1994) (stating that language changes made in other cases to burden of proof instruction were undertaken pursuant to court's supervisory power over lower courts); State v. Thurman, 846 P.2d 1256, 1266, 1271-72 (Utah 1993) (observing that court has "inherent supervisory authority over all courts of this state" and invoking that authority to establish appropriate standards of review); State v. Brown, 853 P.2d 851, 857 (Utah 1992) (holding, pursuant to court's inherent supervisory power over courts, that "counsel with concurrent prosecutorial obligations may not be appointed to defend indigent persons"); State v. Wareham, 772 P.2d 960, 965 (Utah 1989) (adopting, pursuant to court's supervisory power, bifurcated hearing process in simple sexual abuse/aggravated sexual abuse cases); State v. James, 767 P.2d 549, 557 (Utah 1989) (adopting, through exercise of inherent supervisory power over trial courts, bifurcated hearing process to avoid possible prejudice to defendants in first degree murder trials when evidence of prior convictions is introduced); In re Criminal Investigation, 7th District Court No. CS-1, 754 P.2d 633, 653 (Utah 1988) (requiring, by inherent supervisory power over judicial branch, that all investigations made under Subpoena Powers for Aid of Criminal Investigation and Grants of Immunity Act "must be fully documented and such documentation shall be maintained by the district court authorizing the investigation"); State v. Bishop, 753 P.2d 439, 499 (Utah 1988) (Zimmerman, J., concurring in the result) (observing that "requiring . . . trials [to] proceed in the bifurcated...