Walter Harvey
Walter Harvey, State v. Harvey, 692 S.W.2d 290 (Mo. 1985)
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Guilt Phase (Cronic)
Walter Harvey was convicted and sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of married couple Gary and Donna Decker in 1982. At trial, his defense counsel requested multiple continuances, stating he was unprepared to go forward with trial. After jury selection, counsel renewed his motion for continuance, telling the judge that although he’d be physically present at trial, he would not be participating because he was unprepared and exhausted as a result of his work on an earlier capital trial. The trial court denied the motion, finding that trial counsel and Mr. Harvey had engaged in a deliberate trial strategy of nonparticipation. 692 S.W.2d at 291. Trial counsel proceeded to “effectively boycott[] the trial proceedings,” making no opening or closing statement, presenting no evidence at guilt or in mitigation of punishment, conducting no cross-examination, and submitting no instructions. Id. at 292. On appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court held that counsel’s course of action—with which there was no reliable evidence Mr. Harvey agreed—amounted to an abdication of his role in the adversarial process, denying Mr. Harvey his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel. Id. at 293 (citing United States v. Cronic, 104 S.Ct. 2039 (1984) and other cases). The Court ordered a new trial.