Tara Lynne Martini v. Commonwealth of Virginia

CourtCourt of Appeals of Virginia
DecidedMarch 8, 2016
Docket0392154
StatusUnpublished

This text of Tara Lynne Martini v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Tara Lynne Martini v. Commonwealth of Virginia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Tara Lynne Martini v. Commonwealth of Virginia, (Va. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA

Present: Judges Humphreys, McCullough and Senior Judge Haley UNPUBLISHED

Argued at Fredericksburg, Virginia

TARA LYNNE MARTINI MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY v. Record No. 0392-15-4 JUDGE ROBERT J. HUMPHREYS MARCH 8, 2016 COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF FAIRFAX COUNTY David S. Schell, Judge1

Jessica Newton, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Katherine Quinlan Adelfio, Assistant Attorney General (Mark R. Herring, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Tara Martini (“Martini”) appeals her conviction for driving while intoxicated (“DWI”),

second offense within ten years, in violation of Code § 18.2-266. Martini claims the circuit court

erred in denying her motion for a court reporter and her various motions to suppress the

evidence. Additionally, Martini asserts the evidence was insufficient to support her conviction.

Request for Court Reporter

Martini first argues that the circuit court erred by denying her request for a court reporter

to be provided at the court’s expense for all motion hearings and the jury trial. Martini claims

that her due process rights were violated because transcripts of her pre-trial proceedings were

necessary to prepare for trial and to impeach witnesses at trial and because such transcripts were

* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not designated for publication. 1 Judge Charles J. Maxfield ruled on Martini’s motion for a court reporter. Judge R. Terrence Ney decided Martini’s motion to suppress her statements to police and the arrest. Judge Jane Marum Roush ruled on Martini’s motion to suppress the certificate of blood analysis. necessary for an “adequate” appeal. “On appeal, constitutional arguments present questions of

law that this Court reviews de novo.” Crawford v. Commonwealth, 281 Va. 84, 97, 704 S.E.2d

107, 115 (2011).

The Supreme Court of the United States has recognized “constitutional guarantees of due

process and equal protection” in holding that indigent defendants are entitled to the basic tools

necessary to prepare an adequate defense or appeal when those tools are available to others for a

price. Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 17 (1956). The Supreme Court of Virginia subsequently

held that refusing an indigent defendant a free transcript of the trial court record in order to

perfect an appeal constituted a denial of fundamental constitutional rights. Cabaniss v.

Cunningham, 206 Va. 330, 334-35, 143 S.E.2d 911, 913-14 (1965). Later, the Supreme Court of

the United States clarified that, “the State must provide an indigent defendant with a transcript of

prior proceedings when that transcript is needed for an effective defense or appeal.” Britt v.

North Carolina, 404 U.S. 226, 227 (1971). The Britt Court concluded that where the defendant

had “an informal alternative which appear[ed] to be substantially equivalent to a transcript,” the

lower court did not err in denying him a free transcript. Id. at 230. “In determining whether a

defendant needs a free transcript, two factors are relevant: ‘(1) the value of the transcript to the

defendant in connection with the appeal or trial for which it is sought, and (2) the availability of

alternative devices that would fulfill the same functions as a transcript.’” Anderson v.

Commonwealth, 19 Va. App. 208, 211, 450 S.E.2d 394, 396 (1994) (quoting Britt, 404 U.S. at

227).

In this case, the value of a transcript to Martini is not contested by the Commonwealth.

Instead, the key inquiry is whether an alternative device was available and fulfilled the same

function as a transcript. The circuit court allowed Martini’s counsel to audio record any

proceedings in the case using her own recording device. The majority of the proceedings related

-2- to Martini’s case were in fact recorded by counsel, with the exception of one hearing that was

recorded by the recording system in the courtroom, and portions of the proceedings that were not

recorded when Martini’s recorder stopped working. Importantly, Rule 5A:8(c) permits a

statement of facts to be used in lieu of transcripts on appeal. The parties can submit written facts

to the circuit court, which can address objections to the facts by the parties and approve a final

statement of facts. See Rule 5A:8(c)-(d); see also Houghtaling v. Commonwealth, 209 Va. 309,

315, 163 S.E.2d 560, 564 (1968) (holding a narrative statement was sufficient for appellate

review and “defendant was not prejudiced by the failure to record” closing arguments).

On April 9, 2015, Martini noted her appeal in circuit court and filed a proposed statement

of facts pursuant to Rule 5A:8. In response, the Commonwealth submitted a proposed statement

of facts as well as the audio recordings of the pretrial hearings and trial. After a hearing, the

circuit court approved a statement of facts, which has been provided to this Court. To the extent

the parties disputed the statement of facts, the audio recordings made by Martini, the courtroom

recordings, and the personal notes and memories of the parties were available to the circuit court

to resolve any disputes. Although Martini contends, on brief, that the statement of facts was

“highly contested by the parties,” Martini had only minor non-substantive objections to the

prosecutor’s proposed statement of facts, which arguably provided more detail than the statement

of facts submitted by Martini.

Notably, Martini did not object to the final statement of facts approved by the circuit

court below, nor did she specify in her brief why the statement of facts that was presented to this

Court was inadequate for appellate review. See Dickerson v. Commonwealth, 36 Va. App. 8, 13,

548 S.E.2d 230, 232-33 (2001) (holding that a statement of facts was sufficient for appellate

review because even though the appellant had objected to the use of a statement of facts “as a

remedy for the failure to record the testimony at trial,” the appellant “failed to object to the

-3- completeness or accuracy of the statement of facts” and did not “specify why the statement of

facts [in that case] was inadequate” on appeal). Instead, Martini essentially argues that

transcripts are preferable to a statement of facts.

Martini relies on Mayer v. City of Chicago, 404 U.S. 189, 196 (1971), to support her

argument that she was entitled to a court reporter and a transcript of the proceedings. In Mayer,

the Supreme Court of the United States acknowledged that an “appellant cannot be denied a

‘record of sufficient completeness’ to permit proper consideration of his claims.” Id. at 198.

However, the Court cautioned that “this does not mean that [appellant] is automatically entitled

to a full verbatim transcript.” Id. The Mayer Court then noted that in Draper v. Washington, 372

U.S. 487 (1963), the Court had noted that a claim of insufficient evidence could not “be fairly

judged without recourse to the trial record.” Id. The Mayer Court continued, “the State of

Washington did not undertake to carry its burden of showing that something less than a complete

transcript would suffice.” Id. at 198-99. Thus, because the record before the Court in Draper was

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Related

Griffin v. Illinois
351 U.S. 12 (Supreme Court, 1956)
Draper v. Washington
372 U.S. 487 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Mayer v. City of Chicago
404 U.S. 189 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Britt v. North Carolina
404 U.S. 226 (Supreme Court, 1971)
United States v. Robinson
414 U.S. 218 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Mincey v. Arizona
437 U.S. 385 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Miller v. Fenton
474 U.S. 104 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Missouri v. McNeely
133 S. Ct. 1552 (Supreme Court, 2013)
Com. v. McNeal
710 S.E.2d 733 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2011)
Crawford v. Com.
704 S.E.2d 107 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2011)
Sullivan v. Com.
701 S.E.2d 61 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2010)
Vincent v. Com.
668 S.E.2d 137 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2008)
Commonwealth v. Hudson
578 S.E.2d 781 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2003)
Hickson v. Commonwealth
520 S.E.2d 643 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1999)
Roberts v. Commonwealth
684 S.E.2d 824 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2009)
Haskins v. Commonwealth
602 S.E.2d 402 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2004)
Emerson v. Commonwealth
597 S.E.2d 242 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2004)
Kelly v. Commonwealth
584 S.E.2d 444 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2003)
Pease v. Commonwealth
573 S.E.2d 272 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2002)

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