State v. Smith, 02-3404-CR.

• Decision Date: 21 October 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-3404-CR.,02-3404-CR.
• Citation: 2003 WI App 234,671 N.W.2d 854,268 Wis.2d 138
• Parties: STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Steven T. SMITH, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals

268 Wis.2d 138

2003 WI App 234

671 N.W.2d 854

STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Steven T. SMITH, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 02-3404-CR.

Court of Appeals of Wisconsin.

Submitted on briefs September 2, 2003.

Decided October 21, 2003.

On behalf of the defendant-appellant, the cause was submitted on the brief of Mark S. Rosen of Rosen and Holzman, Waukesha.

On behalf of the plaintiff-respondent, the cause was submitted on the brief of Peggy A. Lautenschlager, attorney general and Kathleen M. Ptacek, assistant attorney general. Before Wedemeyer, P.J., Fine and Curley, JJ.

¶ 1. WEDEMEYER, P.J.

Steven T. Smith appeals from an order denying his postconviction motion requesting a new trial due to ineffective assistance of trial counsel, following his conviction for delivery of a controlled substance — cocaine, as a second or subsequent offense contrary to WIS. STAT. § 961.41(1)(cm)1 (2001-02).¹

¶ 2. Smith contends his trial counsel was prejudicially ineffective for failing to object to the prosecutor's closing argument. Because portions of the prosecutor's closing argument jeopardized the fairness and reliability of the trial, we remand for an evidentiary hearing.

I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3. A jury found Smith guilty of delivery of cocaine as a repeat offender. The factual basis for the charge against Smith, although contested, is not complicated. On the morning of January 31, 2000, on the north side of the 2700 block of West State Street, a drug buy occurred. The buyer was an undercover police officer by the name of Deneen McClinton. The State alleged that Smith was the seller. McClinton claimed she purchased two corner cuts of cocaine base substance (crack cocaine) from Smith with a prerecorded $20 bill. Smith denied that he was involved in this transaction.

¶ 4. McClinton was not working alone in this buying exercise. Detective Jeffrey Thompson was involved as a "cover" officer to ensure McClinton's safety and to respond should McClinton give a signal indicating that the person she was interacting with ought to be stopped by other officers. Officers Andrew Jones and Michael Crivillo also served as "cover" separately driving unmarked vehicles. When Crivillo was informed that a sale had occurred, he attempted to stop Smith at the corner of 29th and West State Streets. The man police say was Smith did not stop, however, and he began to flee. Jones joined in the chase and finally apprehended Smith in the 2900 block of West Highland Boulevard.

¶ 5. At trial, Smith testified on his own behalf. Succinctly, he stated he did not come into contact with McClinton, did not have a conversation with her, and did not give her anything in exchange for payment.

¶ 6. McClinton testified that on January 31, 2000, she, Thompson, Crivillo, and Jones were working as a team to investigate drug dealing in the area of 27th and State Streets, a known drug area. She encountered a person whom she identified as the accused and asked if he could "hook" her up (street slang for leading her to obtain narcotics). After bargaining with Smith, he agreed to sell her two dime bags of crack cocaine for $20. She paid him with a prerecorded $20 bill. From her experience as an undercover drug buyer, she concluded what Smith gave her were two corner cut baggies containing crack cocaine. According to McClinton, a hand-to-hand transaction took place in front of the residence located at 2722 West State Street. McClinton noted in her report that a distinct feature about Smith was his numerous facial freckles. When the alleged transaction took place, no one else was observed on that side of the street. While Thompson was serving as McClinton's cover, nothing blocked his vision of the two participants. He did not, however, observe any exchange take place between McClinton and Smith. After the transaction allegedly took place, Smith walked away, westbound on the north side of West State Street.

¶ 7. Thompson observed McClinton and Smith walking together from about twenty or thirty feet to the east on the north side of the street. He noted that Smith was wearing a dark-colored knit cap. At one point, McClinton signaled to Thompson. Thompson then proceeded to follow Smith west on State Street. Thompson notified Jones who, as a backup, was patrolling in an unmarked squad west on State Street. Thompson pointed Smith out to Jones and ordered him to stop Smith. Jones followed Smith in his unmarked squad. At the time, there were no other individuals walking west. A description of Smith was later passed on to Jones. When Smith turned north on 29th Street, Thompson lost sight of him. Jones, however, who was following Smith, turned and drove north on 29th Street. After Thompson asked Jones to follow Smith, Jones never lost sight of Smith up to the time of arrest.

¶ 8. Crivillo, as part of the team, was patrolling the area in an undercover vehicle. He received a broadcast that an individual made a sale and was walking westbound on State Street. He drove south on 29th Street until he arrived at the corner of 29th and West State Streets. There he observed an individual who had just turned the corner off of State Street onto 29th Street. It was Smith. At the same time, he observed Jones in an unmarked squad proceeding west on State Street. Crivillo exited his vehicle and called to Smith to stop. Instead, Smith started to run north on 29th Street. Crivillo gave chase. Jones passed them by in his unmarked car and attempted to block Smith's path with his vehicle. Smith evaded this attempt. Jones left his vehicle, gave chase, and eventually tackled Smith within two blocks of 29th Street and West Highland Boulevard. At the time of his apprehension, Smith was wearing a black winter-type cap. Within minutes, both McClinton and Thompson arrived on the scene. McClinton identified the individual as the drug seller and Thompson identified him as the person he observed with McClinton.

¶ 9. It is undisputed that no one other than McClinton claimed or witnessed an actual sale of crack cocaine by Smith. Nor was any prerecorded buy money or crack cocaine found on Smith or on the chase route after a careful inspection. Furthermore, there was no testimony that Smith attempted to discard any evidence.

¶ 10. At trial, Smith testified on his own behalf. He stated that on January 31, 2000, he left his residence located at 1222 South 19th Street and took a bus to 27th Street and Kilbourn Avenue where he got off. He intended to obtain a $340 money order for his grandmother so that she could pay her rent. The corner store that he went to near the bus stop did not offer money order service, so he walked to 27th and State Streets. There, his intention was to stop in a key shop located near the intersection to obtain a key for the room in which he was residing. The key shop, however, was not open. With that, he began to walk west on the north side of West State Street. As he turned the corner north on North 29th Street, he encountered an individual who turned out to be Crivillo.

¶ 11. The essence of his testimony was that he was not the person who sold crack cocaine to McClinton, nor did he receive any money from her. He claimed that when Crivillo asked him to stop, he did not realize he was a police officer; nonetheless, he said he fled because his parole officer prohibited him from having any police contacts. ¶ 12. During closing argument, the State proposed the following to the jury:

See, this argument — While defense attorneys try and say, well, we're not saying the police are lying; what else are they saying? There's no other reasonable explanation, and it kind of frustrates me knowing and working in this field and knowing these officers; and you know them now too. You know them. They work hard. They do a tough job. They come in here to testify a lot of times. They work long, long hours. You weigh their testimony against the defendant's.

¶ 13. The jury found Smith guilty of the charge. The trial court sentenced him to ten years in the Wisconsin state prison system, six years of initial confinement, with extended supervision for four years. In a postconviction motion, Smith moved for a new trial on the basis that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the State's improper closing argument. The motion was denied without a hearing and Smith now appeals.

II. ANALYSIS

¶ 14. Smith claims his trial counsel was prejudicially ineffective for failing to object to the State's improper closing argument or request a mistrial on that basis. He contends the closing argument presented facts not in evidence and improperly bolstered the credibility of the State's witnesses.

¶ 15. The analytical framework that must be employed in assessing the merits of a defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is well known. To sustain a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show both that counsel's performance was deficient and that counsel's errors were prejudicial. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687 (1984); State v. Sanchez, 201 Wis. 2d 219, 236, 548 N.W.2d 69 (1996). A court need not address both components of this inquiry if the defendant does not make a sufficient showing on one. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 697. The trial court denied Smith's claim without conducting a Machner² hearing to address the deficiency issue. Thus, for the purposes of this appeal, we address only the "prejudice" prong.

¶ 16. With respect to the "prejudice" component of the test for ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant must affirmatively prove that the alleged defect in counsel's performance actually had an adverse effect on the defense. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 693. The defendant cannot meet his burden by merely showing that the error had some conceivable effect on the outcome. Rather, he "must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding[s] would have been different. A...