Morrell v. State

Facts

D offered a ride in his pickup truck to Anne Elias, who was hitchhiking from the University to her home outside Fairbanks. She became D's prisoner for 8 days. D claims that Elias voluntarily entered his vehicle and voluntarily stayed with him for the next 8 days. Elias testified that D picked her up as she was trying to hitch a ride home. She almost immediately noticed that the operating mechanism for the lock on the door on her side of the truck, which Morrell had told her to lock, was missing. She could not unlock the door. Furthermore, the window crank on her side of the vehicle was missing. D testified that these defects in his truck had come about routinely and further he had not, or could not, repair the defects for one specific reason or another. D showed Elias a handgun that he was carrying. D unsuccessfully attempted to rape her. D blindfold her. They arrived at D's house. After he led her into a bedroom in the downstairs part of the house, D raped Elias. Elias testified D raped her at least once a day. She stated that when D left the house, he would tie her to the bed and when he was at home, he would allow her to be untied. In addition, Elias testified that whenever D left the house, he turned on the television set or the washer or both, apparently to block out Elias' screams, if she chose to scream. Eventually D drove her to a campground 30 miles from his home and released her. When D stopped at a gas station that morning, Elias did not try to tell the attendant of her plight, even though D left the truck while at the gas station. D released her, and Elias started walking toward Fairbanks, even though there were campers at the campground with whom she might have spoken. Elias hitched a ride with Fred Shott despite the fact that he was alone, driving a pickup truck. After obtaining a second ride with another man, Elias reached her place of employment. A friend drove her home, and Elias told her friend about D. Officers executed a warrant and conducted a full search of the house. The search produced incriminating circumstantial evidence, such as magazines with address labels cut out, which Elias claimed had been given to her to read and which she believed had been cut up to keep her from learning where she was being held. Officers also found novels containing stories about kidnapping and captivity. They found cigarettes of the type Elias smoked. They also found packages of rope, clothes of the type Elias claimed to have been given to wear, food containers from a McDonald's restaurant, and a telephone extension that had been disconnected from the wall. Stephen Cline of the Public Defender Agency was appointed to represent D. Cline received a telephone call from John Wagner, a friend of D's who had been living in D's home with D's consent while D awaited trial. Wagner had cleaned out one of D's vehicles and had found a legal pad on which had been written what appeared to be a kidnapping plan. Wagner asked Cline to come to see what he had found, and Cline did so. Wagner asked Cline to take possession of the legal pad, which Cline did. Cline showed the papers to D, who explained that he had sketched the plan in response to a television report of an earlier kidnapping in Fairbanks. Cline contacted both the Alaska Bar Association and the American Bar Association for advice. The Ethics Committee pinion advised Cline to return the papers to Wagner, to explain to Wagner the law on concealment of evidence, and to withdraw from the case if it later became obvious to Cline that a violation of ethical rules would result. Cline withdrew from the case. Cline said that he helped Wagner arrange the transfer to the police because it became clear that Wagner intended to turn the evidence over to the police. Wagner testified that it had been Cline's idea to contact the police and that Cline had made the contact with the police to arrange the transfer. Both men were at the D home when the troopers arrived. Wagner initialed the pad before giving it to the troopers - indicating that it was he who was relinquishing custody of the papers to the troopers. Cline testified that he had given Wagner a copy of the statute governing concealment of evidence. He specifically refused to give Wagner advice intended either to encourage or to discourage Wagner from turning the evidence over to the police. The papers were introduced in evidence at trial. D was convicted and appealed. D argues in part that the actions of Cline deprived him of his right to effective assistance of counsel.

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

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