State v. Kuhlmann

• Decision Date: 21 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. A09–0915.,A09–0915.
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Brent Theodore KUHLMANN, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

806 N.W.2d 844

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent,

v.Brent Theodore KUHLMANN, Appellant.

No. A09–0915.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Dec. 21, 2011.

Syllabus by the Court

1. The trial court erred when it failed to obtain appellant's personal waiver of the right to a jury trial on the stipulated, previous-conviction elements of the charged offenses.

2. The trial court's error in failing to obtain appellant's personal waiver of the right to a jury trial on the stipulated, previous-conviction elements of the charged offenses is not structural error.

3. The failure to obtain appellant's personal waiver of the right to a jury trial on the stipulated, previous-conviction elements of the charged offenses did not affect appellant's substantial rights.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, John B. Galus, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, MN; and Janelle Kendall, Stearns County Attorney, St. Cloud, MN, for respondent.

David W. Merchant, Chief Appellate Public Defender, G. Tony Atwal, Assistant State Public Defender, St. Paul, MN, for appellant.

OPINION

PAGE, Justice.

This case presents the issue of whether a defendant whose counsel stipulates to the defendant having previous convictions that are an element of the charged offense must also personally waive his or her right to a jury trial on the stipulated element. Appellant Brent Theodore Kuhlmann was convicted after a jury trial of one count of domestic assault, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.2242, subd. 4 (2010), and one count of test refusal, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 169A.25, subd. 1(b) (2010). On appeal, Kuhlmann argues that the trial court committed reversible error when it accepted a stipulation on elements of the charged offenses without advising him of his right to a jury trial on these elements and securing, either in writing or on the record, his personal waiver of the right to a jury trial on the stipulated elements. The court of appeals affirmed Kuhlmann's convictions in a published decision. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm Kuhlmann's convictions.

In the early morning hours of October 16, 2008, two police officers responded to a 911 call reporting a domestic dispute at a house in Sauk Centre. Upon arriving at the location, the officers heard yelling and the sound of things breaking inside. After forcibly entering the house, the officers encountered Kuhlmann and his girlfriend. The officers observed that Kuhlmann's girlfriend was wearing a white shirt that appeared to have been ripped and that her chest was red with blood, looking as though she had been struck. She also had scratches on her neck and it “looked like someone had their hand around her throat.” Kuhlmann, whom the officers believed to be intoxicated, was tased after repeatedly refusing to come out of a bathroom. Kuhlmann was then arrested and transported to the police department. Based on witness statements regarding the night's events, the officers had reason to believe that Kuhlmann had driven a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Kuhlmann was asked to take an alcohol breath test, which he refused.

Kuhlmann was subsequently charged with two counts of domestic assault, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.2242, subd. 4, and one count of test refusal, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 169A.25, subd. 1(b). Both of the charged offenses required the State to prove that Kuhlmann had certain qualifying previous convictions or qualifying events in order to convict him of the offenses.¹ At trial, Kuhlmann's counsel stipulated on the record that Kuhlmann had the required previous convictions for each of the offenses and asked that the jury not be informed that each offense had a previous-conviction element.² Kuhlmann also personally acknowledged that he had the qualifying previous convictions. As a result, the State did not present any evidence about Kuhlmann's previous convictions, and the jury was not required to find that the State had met its burden of proving that Kuhlmann had the qualifying previous convictions necessary for conviction of the charged offenses.

Ultimately, the jury found Kuhlmann guilty of one count of domestic assault and one count of test refusal. The trial court convicted Kuhlmann of both offenses and sentenced him to 21 months in prison for the domestic assault and one year and one day for test refusal. The court stayed execution of both sentences and placed Kuhlmann on supervised probation for six years on the condition that Kuhlmann serve 180 days in the county jail.

At the court of appeals, Kuhlmann argued that the trial court committed reversible error when it failed to secure his personal waiver of the right to a jury trial on the previous-conviction elements of the charged offenses. State v. Kuhlmann, 780 N.W.2d 401, 404 (Minn.App.2010), rev. granted (Minn. June 15, 2011). The court of appeals held that the trial court erred because the trial court “should have obtained a personal, informed waiver before deleting [the previous-conviction] elements from the jury instructions.” Id. Because Kuhlmann did not object to the error at trial, the court of appeals reviewed for plain error and affirmed the trial court's decision “because the error did not undermine the fairness or integrity of the judicial proceedings.” Id. at 404–06.

I.

Kuhlmann argues that he was denied his constitutional right to a jury trial on the previous-conviction elements of the charged offenses because the trial court accepted his stipulation to the previous convictions without obtaining his personal waiver of the right to a jury trial on those elements. A criminal defendant has a right to a jury trial, Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 149, 88 S.Ct. 1444, 20 L.Ed.2d 491 (1968), that includes the right to “a jury determination that the defendant is guilty of every element of the crime with which he is charged, beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506, 510, 115 S.Ct. 2310, 132 L.Ed.2d 444 (1995); accord State v. Vance, 734 N.W.2d 650, 657 (Minn.2007). In Minnesota, the right to a jury trial attaches whenever the defendant is charged with an offense that has an authorized penalty of incarceration. Minn. R.Crim. P. 26.01, subd. 1(1)(a); see State v. Weltzin, 630 N.W.2d 406, 410 (Minn.2001).

A defendant may also waive his right to a jury trial. Patton v. United States, 281 U.S. 276, 312, 50 S.Ct. 253, 74 L.Ed. 854 (1930) (affirming a defendant's right to waive a trial by jury), overruled on other grounds by Williams v. Florida, 399 U.S. 78, 92, 90 S.Ct. 1893, 26 L.Ed.2d 446 (1970); State v. Pietraszewski, 283 N.W.2d 887, 889–90 (Minn.1979) (citing Minn. R.Crim. P. 26.01, subd. 1(2)(a)). A defendant's waiver of his right to a jury trial on the elements of an offense must be knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 748, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970); State v. Dettman, 719 N.W.2d 644, 651 (Minn.2006). The Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure further provide:

The defendant, with the approval of the court, may waive a jury trial on the issue of guilt provided the defendant does so personally, in writing or on the record in open court, after being advised by the court of the right to trial by jury, and after having had an opportunity to consult with counsel.

Minn. R.Crim. P. 26.01, subd. 1(2)(a). We have held that a defendant must personally waive his or her right to a jury trial. Dettman, 719 N.W.2d at 650–51; State v. Osborne, 715 N.W.2d 436, 443–44 (Minn.2006). ³ Whether a criminal defendant has been denied the right to a jury trial is a constitutional question that we review de novo. State v. Shattuck, 704 N.W.2d 131, 135 (Minn.2005).

In State v. Berkelman, the defendant was found guilty under the DWI statute of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of .10 or more within five years of a previous conviction. 355 N.W.2d 394, 395 (Minn.1984). The defendant argued that the trial court erred by allowing the State to introduce evidence of his previous DWI conviction because his offer to stipulate to the previous conviction eliminated the need for admitting the evidence. Id. We concluded that the previous DWI conviction was an element of the aggravated DWI offense, meaning that “the prior conviction is an element which the state must prove at trial and which defendant has a right to have a jury decide.” Id. at 396. We went on to hold that the trial court erred in refusing to accept Berkelman's offer to remove the issue from the jury and stated:

In the instant case the defendant in effect offered to waive his right to a trial by jury on one element of the offense and to judicially admit the existence of that element, thereby removing the issue from the case. He made his offer because he justifiably feared that the jury might impermissibly use its knowledge of his prior act of DWI in deciding whether he had driven under the influence at the time charged.

Id. at 397.

Relying on Berkelman, the State contends that Kuhlmann was not denied his right to a jury trial because a stipulation to a previous-conviction element implies a waiver of the right to a jury trial with respect to the stipulated element. But given that the issue in Berkelman was whether the trial court erred when it refused to accept the defendant's offer to remove the stipulated, previous-conviction element from the jury, we reject the contention that Berkelman goes as far as to support such an implication. Moreover, the State's reliance on Berkelman begs the question. The fact that defense counsel may stipulate to a previous-conviction element demonstrates nothing regarding the defendant's personal waiver of a right to a jury trial on that element. Rather, Berkelman states that a “prior conviction is an element which the state must prove at trial and which defendant has a right to have a jury decide.” Id. at 396. Moreover, adopting the State's position that a defendant impliedly waives the right to a jury trial on an element of an offense through counsel's statement...