State v. Winfield

• Decision Date: 13 January 2006
• Docket Number: No. 20040382.,20040382.
• Citation: 128 P.3d 1171,2006 UT 4
• Parties: STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Carl Alton WINFIELD, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

128 P.3d 1171

2006 UT 4

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Carl Alton WINFIELD, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 20040382.

Supreme Court of Utah.

January 13, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mark L. Shurtleff, Att'y Gen., Marian Decker, Asst. Att'y Gen., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Joan C. Watt, Kent R. Hart, Salt Lake City, for defendant.

PARRISH, Justice:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 Defendant Carl Alton Winfield appeals his conviction for aggravated robbery, arguing that (1) the trial court's voir dire examination was inadequate to ensure an impartial jury, and (2) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction. We conclude that Winfield invited the alleged error in jury selection when he affirmatively passed the jury for cause and accordingly decline to review that claim. We similarly decline to review Winfield's claim that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction because he failed to preserve that claim in the trial court.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 "On appeal from a jury verdict, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences in a light most favorable to that verdict and recite the facts accordingly." State v. Pinder, 2005 UT 15, ¶ 2, 114 P.3d 551 (internal quotation marks omitted).

¶ 3 Winfield entered the employees-only building of a Sonic Drive-In restaurant in Salt Lake County, Utah.¹ At least three employees were inside the building at the time. One of the employees, a carhop, was standing a few feet from the entrance, with her back to the door. The assistant manager was seated at a desk where she was busy sorting the carhop's cash and receipts as part of a routine checkout procedure. In her lap was a bank bag containing cash.

¶ 4 Winfield approached the carhop from behind, pressed either his finger, his hand, or another hard object into her right side above her hip and verbally demanded that she give him all of the money. Maintaining pressure in her side, Winfield moved the carhop forward in the direction of the desk, repeating his demand for the money. Winfield then snatched the bank bag from the assistant manager's lap, turned away, and fled the scene. The assistant manager immediately contacted police, who located Winfield shortly thereafter.

¶ 5 Winfield was subsequently arrested and charged with aggravated robbery. At a preliminary hearing, Winfield elected to forgo appointed representation and proceeded pro se. Following the hearing, the trial court bound Winfield over for trial on the aggravated robbery charge. Winfield filed a timely motion to quash the bindover, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to establish aggravated robbery. The trial court denied the motion and set the matter for trial.

¶ 6 On the first day of trial, the trial judge questioned Winfield to determine whether he wanted to continue pro se. After Winfield responded affirmatively and indicated that he felt competent to do so, the trial judge began the process of jury selection. He began by asking questions designed to examine each prospective juror's ability to serve impartially. Questions included whether any prospective juror or any of the jurors' immediate family members or close friends (1) was or knew someone who was a sworn law enforcement officer, (2) had been accused of a crime, or (3) had been the victim of a crime similar to the one with which Winfield was charged. Seven of the eight jurors who ultimately sat on the jury gave at least one affirmative response. Two jurors responded that they had been victims of a similar crime, two jurors indicated that they had family members who had been convicted of a serious crime, two jurors stated that they had either committed crimes themselves or been accused of committing a crime, two other jurors indicated that they had close familiarity with law enforcement, and one juror stated that she was a victim's rights advocate.

¶ 7 The trial court followed up with six of the seven responding jurors, asking them to explain the nature and time period of their experiences and whether the experiences would cause them to favor one side over the other. After elaborating on their experiences, each of these six jurors ultimately declared that he or she could be fair and impartial if selected to serve on the jury, and the trial judge accepted their responses without further questioning. The trial court failed to ask any follow-up questions of the seventh juror, but Winfield did not object, nor did he request any additional questioning of that juror.

¶ 8 Before concluding voir dire, the trial judge asked Winfield if he had any additional questions for the jury panel. Winfield responded affirmatively, asking the court to inquire into one juror's law enforcement background. The trial judge allowed the additional questioning, and Winfield found the juror's response satisfactory. The trial judge then asked if Winfield found the collective panel from which his jury would be selected to be acceptable. Winfield responded, "Absolutely," and declined to use any of his four available peremptory challenges, stating, "The defense concedes to the jury selection." At the conclusion of voir dire, Winfield again stated, "Let the record reflect that I have conceded to the jury selection."

¶ 9 Following the presentation of evidence but before the jury left to deliberate, Winfield inquired regarding a document that had been placed on the table in front of him. The document was entitled "Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order." The trial judge explained that the document reflected the court's written order denying Winfield's motion to quash the bindover following the preliminary hearing and indicated that the order had been delivered to him at trial because he had previously refused to approve it as to form. Winfield relied on the order in objecting to a jury instruction that included a charge of the lesser included offense of robbery. The trial court overruled Winfield's objection to the inclusion of such an instruction. At this time, Winfield also moved for a directed verdict, claiming that there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that he had taken any money from the restaurant. The trial court denied that motion.

¶ 10 The jury returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of aggravated robbery. Winfield waived his right to a pre-sentence investigation and hearing and was sentenced immediately.

¶ 11 Winfield, acting with the assistance of legal counsel, filed a timely notice of appeal with this court. We initially transferred his appeal to the Utah Court of Appeals, but recalled the case in order to hear it in conjunction with two other cases involving similar issues, State v. King, 2006 UT 3, ___ P.3d ___, and State v. Lee, 2006 UT 5, 128 P.3d 1179.

ANALYSIS

¶ 12 Winfield urges us to reverse his conviction for two reasons. Winfield first argues that he is entitled to a new trial because the trial court's voir dire examination was inadequate to ensure an impartial jury. Second, Winfield argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for aggravated robbery because there was no evidence that he used a dangerous weapon. We discuss each issue in turn.

I. JURY BIAS

¶ 13 Winfield first claims that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to fully probe seven of the eight jurors who were ultimately empaneled. We hold that the doctrine of invited error prevents us from reaching the merits of this claim because Winfield affirmatively represented to the trial court that he had no objection to the jury panel.

¶ 14 "Generally speaking, a timely and specific objection must be made [at trial] in order to preserve an issue for appeal." State v. Pinder, 2005 UT 15, ¶ 45, 114 P.3d 551; see also State v. Holgate, 2000 UT 74, ¶ 11, 10 P.3d 346. When a party raises an issue on appeal without having properly preserved the issue below, "we require that the party articulate an appropriate justification for appellate review," Pinder, 2005 UT 15, ¶ 45, 114 P.3d 551; specifically, the party must argue either "`plain error'" or "`exceptional circumstance.'" Id. (quoting State v. Pledger, 896 P.2d 1226, 1229 n. 5 (Utah 1995)); accord State v. Nelson-Waggoner, 2004 UT 29, ¶ 16, 94 P.3d 186. But under the doctrine of invited error, we have declined to engage in even plain error review when "counsel, either by statement or act, affirmatively represented to the [trial] court that he or she had no objection to the [proceedings]." State v. Hamilton, 2003 UT 22, ¶ 54, 70 P.3d 111; accord Pinder, 2005 UT 15, ¶ 62, 114 P.3d 551; State v. Geukgeuzian, 2004 UT 16, ¶ 9, 86 P.3d 742.

¶ 15 Our invited error doctrine arises from the principle that "`a party cannot take advantage of an error committed at trial when that party led the trial court into committing the error.'" Geukgeuzian, 2004 UT 16, ¶ 9, 86 P.3d 742 (quoting State v. Anderson, 929 P.2d 1107, 1109 (Utah 1996)); accord Pinder, 2005 UT 15, ¶ 62, 114 P.3d 551; Hamilton, 2003 UT 22, ¶ 54, 70 P.3d 111. By precluding appellate review, the doctrine furthers this principle by "discourag[ing] parties from intentionally misleading the trial court so as to preserve a hidden ground for reversal on appeal." Geukgeuzian, 2004 UT 16, ¶ 12, 86 P.3d 742 (internal quotation marks omitted). Encouraging counsel to actively participate in all proceedings and to raise any possible error at the time of its occurrence "`fortifies our long-established policy that the trial court should have the first opportunity to address a claim of error.'" Hamilton, 2003 UT 22, ¶ 54, 70 P.3d 111 (quoting Anderson, 929 P.2d at 1109).

¶ 16 Affirmative representations that a party has no objection to the proceedings fall within the scope of the invited error doctrine because such representations reassure the trial court and encourage it to proceed without further consideration of the issues. See State v. Medina, 738 P.2d 1021, 1023 (Utah 1987) ("[T]he fact remains that counsel consciously chose not...