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State v. York
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MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT					Reporter of Decisions
Decision:	1997 ME 156 
Docket:	Pen-95-691
Argued:	December 2, 1996
Decided:	July 18, 1997

Panel:		WATHEN, C.J., and GLASSMAN, CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, and LIPEZ, JJ.

STATE OF MAINE

v.

JERRY YORK

DANA, J.

	[¶1]  Jerry York appeals from the judgment of conviction entered in
the Superior Court (Penobscot County, Mead, J.)  on a jury verdict finding
him guilty of arson (Class A) in violation of 17-A M.R.S.A. § 802 (1983 &
Supp. 1996).  York contends the court erred in allowing the State to
impeach his testimony with statements obtained in violation of his Sixth
Amendment right to counsel.{1}  We agree and vacate the judgment.
	[¶2]  On the morning of June 25, 1993, the East Millinocket police
received an anonymous telephone call informing them there would be a fire
that afternoon at York's mobile home located in Medway.  Later that
afternoon, James Ellis, an investigator with the State Fire Marshal's Office,
conducted surveillance of the home.  He observed the residence for about
two hours but saw nothing suspicious.  The next morning York's home was
partially destroyed by fire.  Ellis investigated the fire and, based on evidence
gathered at the scene, concluded it was set intentionally.  As part of his
investigation Ellis spoke with York's stepcousin, Chris Perro, who was living
at York's residence at the time of the fire.  Perro stated originally that he
did not know anything about the fire.  In September 1993 Perro changed his
story and told Ellis that before the fire York had stated he planned to burn
his home and offered Perro money for his help.  Perro also stated that
shortly after the fire York admitted setting it.  In December 1993 the State
obtained an indictment charging York with arson.  At his arraignment York
received court-appointed counsel and pleaded not guilty.
	[¶3]  In June 1995, while York awaited trial, Perro spoke with York's
attorney and once again reversed his story stating that York had not said the
things that Perro told Ellis in September 1993.  Perro stated York had
nothing to do with the fire and explained he had lied because he was upset
with York for firing him from his job at a supermarket and because Ellis
threatened him by saying that unless he could prove his innocence, he
would go to prison with York.  Perro claimed he changed his story to
implicate York because he was scared.  York's attorney summoned Ellis, and
Perro repeated this new version of events to Ellis.  Shortly thereafter, Ellis
spoke with Perro in private and Perro agreed to meet with York while
wearing a hidden body wire.  In July 1995 Perro wore the wire to a meeting
with York during which York made several incriminating statements.  Ellis,
who was located nearby in a parked vehicle, recorded the conversation
between the two men.
	[¶4]  At the trial, Perro testified that the true story was the one
implicating York, the story Perro told Ellis in September 1993.  York
testified and denied Perro's assertions.  On cross-examination the State
used information obtained from the surreptitious recording to impeach
York's testimony.  The State also used the information in its rebuttal case
while questioning Ellis.  The jury found York guilty of arson and he appeals.
	[¶5]  As a preliminary matter, the State argues York failed to preserve
certain issues for appeal by failing to file a motion to suppress pursuant to
M.R. Crim. P. 41A.{2}  The State contends York failed to preserve the issues
whether the surreptitiously recorded conversation resulted in a deprivation
of his right to counsel and whether he voluntarily waived that right.  The
State contends that because a testimonial hearing was not conducted
pursuant to Rule 41A, "[n]o testimony operates as a foundation upon which
the trial court -- or this Court -- can make adequate factual findings on the
merits of the claimed [S]ixth [A]mendment violation."  We conclude York
properly preserved the issues for appeal.
	[¶6]  Although he did not file a motion to suppress, York nevertheless
placed the issues before the trial court.  In his motion in limine York
objected to the admission of the recorded information citing Maine v.
Moulton, 474 U.S. 159, 106 S.Ct. 477, 88 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985) (Sixth
Amendment right to assistance of counsel violated in case in which police
informant used body wire to record conversation with the defendant after
the defendant's right to counsel had attached).  York similarly objected at
the trial on grounds that his right to counsel had been violated and that he
had not waived his right.  Moreover, at the trial the State conceded its
actions had infringed York's right to counsel, and that such actions
prohibited the State from using the recorded information in its case-in-
chief.  Finally, and most importantly, because York's Sixth Amendment right
to counsel had attached before the recorded conversation occurred,{3} the
State bore the burden of showing an effective waiver.  See, e.g., Michigan v.
Harvey, 494 U.S. 344, 354, 110 S.Ct. 1176, 1182, 108 L.Ed.2d 293 (1990)
(the State has the burden to show that a waiver is knowing and voluntary). 
The State made no such showing, and on appeal York provides a record that
is more than adequate to resolve the issue.  Cf. State v. Clark 483 A.2d 1221,
1224 n.1 (Me. 1984) (issue preserved for appeal when the defendant failed
to specifically articulate a Sixth Amendment objection at the trial, but the
record established the trial court considered and rejected the argument
that the defendant was denied the effective assistance of counsel).
	[¶7]  The State argues the recorded statements were used properly
for impeachment purposes pursuant to principles enunciated in Walder v.
United States, 347 U.S. 62, 74 S.Ct. 354, 98 L.Ed. 503 (1954), Harris v. New
York, 401 U.S. 222, 91 S.Ct. 643, 28 L.Ed.2d 1 (1971), and Michigan v.
Harvey, 494 U.S. 344, 110 S.Ct. 1176, 108 L.Ed.2d 293 (1990), regarding
the importance of truth-seeking at a trial.  York argues such principles do
not apply when the recorded statements were obtained in the absence of a
waiver of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel at a police-initiated post-
indictment questioning.  We agree.
	[¶8]  The Supreme Court of the United States has allowed information
that would ordinarily violate exclusionary rules to be used for impeachment
purposes.  See Harvey, 494 U.S. at 345-46, 110 S.Ct. at 1177-78 (voluntary
statements obtained in violation of the Sixth Amendment prophylactic rule
of Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625, 106 S.Ct. 1404, 89 L.Ed.2d 631
(1986)){4}; Harris, 401 U.S. at 226, 91 S.Ct. at 646 (voluntary statements
obtained in violation of the Fifth Amendment{5} prophylactic rules embodied
in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966));
Walder, 347 U.S. at 65, 74 S.Ct. at 356 (evidence obtained in violation of the
Fourth Amendment{6}).  Although the information may not be used in the
prosecution's case-in-chief, the exclusionary rules may not be used by the
defendant as a license to take the stand and lie with impunity.  See Harvey,
494 U.S. at 351, 110 S.Ct. at 1180-81; Harris, 401 U.S. at 224-25, 91 S.Ct.
at 645-46; Walder, 347 U.S. at 65, 74 S.Ct. at 356.  Thus, when the
defendant testifies, information obtained in violation of the Fourth
Amendment, or information obtained in violation of the prophylactic rules
designed to protect rights embodied in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments,
may be used for impeachment.  See id.  This is so because the use of the
information is not itself a constitutional violation.
	[¶9]  Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has concluded that when the
offering of such evidence amounts to a constitutional violation itself the
evidence may not be used for any purpose.  See New Jersey v. Portash, 440
U.S. 450, 458-59, 99 S.Ct. 1292, 1296-97, 59 L.Ed.2d 501 (1979)
(involuntary statements may not be used at trial for any purpose because use
of the statements would violate the Fifth Amendment); Mincey v. Arizona,
437 U.S. 385, 401-02, 98 S.Ct. 2408, 2418, 57 L.Ed.2d 290 (1978) (same). 
This is precisely what occurred in the instant case.  York's Sixth
Amendment right to counsel had attached and he did not waive this right
before speaking with Perro.  See United States v. Spencer, 955 F.2d 814,
820 (2d Cir. 1992) ("[I]n the absence of a later waiver of the initially invoked
right to counsel, any subsequent statement transgresses the core
constitutional right to counsel, rather than a judicially created prophylactic
rule for the protection of that right, and therefore should not be available to
the prosecution for any purpose.").  York's right to counsel was violated
when the State used the recorded information at the trial to impeach his
testimony.  See Maine v. Moulton, 474 U.S. 159, 173, 106 S.Ct. 477, 485, 88
L.Ed.2d 481 (1985) (quoting Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 206,
84 S.Ct. 1199, 1203, 12 L.Ed.2d 246 (1964) ("[Massiah] was denied the
basic protections of [the right to have the assistance of counsel] when there
was used against him at the trial evidence of his own incriminating words,
that federal agents had deliberately elicited from him after he had been
indicted and in the absence of his counsel.") (alterations in original).{7}
	[¶10]  The State argues the trial court's error is harmless, contending
that York's guilt was established amply by the State's case-in-chief, and that
York's credibility was otherwise well impeached.  York argues the use of the
recorded information was critical in that it both impeached his testimony
and bolstered the testimony of Perro, a witness whose story had changed
repeatedly.  We agree.
	[¶11]  Pursuant to the harmless error analysis we review the entire
record as a whole and ignore errors that are harmless, even some
constitutional violations.{8}  State v. Begin, 652 A.2d 102, 105 (Me. 1995).  
"We will not set aside an otherwise valid conviction if we 'may confidently
say, on the whole record, that the constitutional error was harmless beyond
a reasonable doubt.'"  State v. Hassapelis, 620 A.2d 288, 293 (Me. 1993)
(quoting Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 681, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 1436,
89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986)).  
	[¶12]  Much of the State's case hinged on the credibility of Perro, an
important witness whose story had changed on three occasions.  The
anonymous phone call, received by police on the day before the fire, resulted
from information supplied by Perro.{9}  The testimony of Perro's girlfriend,
Susan Dyer, that York wanted to burn his trailer and that he offered Perro
money to do it, resulted from a discussion with Perro.  Similar testimony
offered by Joel York, the defendant's cousin, also was based on a discussion
with Perro.  Use of the recorded information served to bolster the
credibility of Perro, and, in turn, bolster the testimony of the other
witnesses whose testimony was based on Perro's version of events. 
Moreover, it is likely the jury's verdict in this case was also based, at least in
part, on the lack of credibility of York's testimony denying the charge. 
While York's credibility may have been attacked with some success on cross-
examination,{10} it was the use of the recorded information that seemed likely
to have significantly impeached York's credibility.  The State also used the
recorded conversation to establish that York was cognizant of his own guilt
because he never asked Perro to tell the truth, nor did he speculate with
Perro about who may have started the fire.  In light of the fact that the
recorded information not only impeached York, but bolstered the testimony
of several prosecution witnesses, it cannot be said with confidence that the
use of such information was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
	[¶13]  Because we vacate the conviction, we neither reach nor
comment on York's other contentions regarding whether the trial court
abused its discretion in allowing admission of York's prior convictions for
burglary, theft, and possession of a firearm by a felon, or alternatively,
whether the court abused its discretion in denying him an opportunity to
explain the convictions once admitted.
	The entry is:
Judgment vacated.  Remanded for further
proceedings consistent with the opinion
herein.

                                                             Attorneys for State:

R. Christopher Almy, District Attorney
Michael Roberts, Dep. Dist. Atty.
C. Daniel Wood, Asst. Dist. Atty. (orally)
97 Hammond Street
Bangor, ME 04401

Attorney for defendant:

William N. Palmer, Esq. (orally)
Gray & Palmer
6 State Street, Suite 407
Bangor, ME 04401-5104