People v. Anderson

California Court of Appeal Sep 3, 1970 No. Crim. No. 3091Published

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Holding. The court denied the request to reinstate the defendant's appeal, holding that any constitutional error resulting from the use of a "no merit" letter was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the underlying guilty plea and subsequent proceedings were valid.

Issues

Whether the court must reinstate an appeal following a guilty plea where a "no merit" letter was used prior to the Anders v. California decision.
Whether constitutional error from a "no merit" letter is harmless when the record shows the underlying proceedings were impeccably correct.

Disposition. denied

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“On the assumption that constitutional error occurred by reason of the “no merit” letter, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“It was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because, on the face of the record, the guilty plea and subsequent proceedings were impeccably correct and because no collateral allegations have revealed the slightest ground for extrinsic inquiry.”

Opinion

THE COURT. The Attorney General has transmitted to us an order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California [88]granting Alex S. Anderson’s petition for habeas corpus and directing the Superintendent of California Men’s Colony, West, at Los Padres to produce the petitioner before that court unless within 60 days the State of California reinstates his appeal. The Attorney General has accompanied this order with a letter requesting this court to recall the remittitur this court issued in 1961 and to reinstate Anderson’s appeal.

In 1959 Anderson appeared in a municipal court with counsel, the Public Defender of Sonoma County, in response to a complaint charging him with two sexual offenses. He was at that time on probation, having been convicted of a sexual offense in 1956. In the municipal court, one of the two charges was dismissed and a plea of guilty entered to the other. He was certified to the superior court which, after a probation report and psychiatric examination, committed him to a state hospital under California’s then sexual psychopathy law. Several months later the hospital returned him to the court as one who could not benefit by hospital care and as a menace to the safety of others. The superior court then revoked his probation on the 1956 offense and sentenced him to concurrent terms of imprisonment for the 1956 and 1959 violations. Throughout the proceeding in the superior court he was represented by counsel, the Public Defender of Sonoma County.

Anderson appealed to this court from the judgment imposed in consequence of the 1959 conviction. We appointed counsel, who examined the trial court proceedings and filed with this court a so-called “no merit” letter. After an independent examination of the record, this court on February 3, 1961, affirmed the conviction. Our memorandum opinion is reported in People v. Anderson, 188 Cal.App.2d 856 [10 Cal.Rptr. 737].

Our affirmance of the appeal antedated Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 [18 L.Ed.2d 493, 87 S.Ct. 1396], which invalidated the “no merit” letter procedure on constitutional grounds. Shortly after that decision, Alex Anderson filed with us a motion requesting reinstatement of his appeal. In effect he alleged a violation of the principle established in Anders v. California. In his petition he alleged no denial of counsel in the trial court, no facts indicating a coerced or fraudulently induced plea of guilty, nor did he suggest any error in the brief judicial proceedings following that plea. This court was at that time and is now thoroughly cognizant of its obligation to reinstate appeals when the Anders rule so demands. Nevertheless, we denied Alex Anderson’s motion for reinstatement.

People v. Anderson

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