Opinion ID: 1516216
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Impeachment of Commonwealth Witnesses

Text: Appellant broadly argues that trial counsel did not properly impeach Edgar Clarke, Ramon Burton, and Ruth Beverly, making direct appeal counsel ineffective for not raising trial counsel's missed impeachment opportunities. The Commonwealth, of course, denies that any of appellant's impeachment claims have merit. In respect to each of these witnesses, the PCRA court, without specifically addressing any particular argument appellant advanced, found that appellant's complaints merely implicated the depth and angle of impeachment areas already explored by defense counsel at trial. PCRA ct. slip op. at 12. Due to the' nature of the proposed failures, the PCRA court held that appellant could not demonstrate prejudice such that there was a reasonable probability that the verdict would have been different without the alleged errors. The PCRA court was correct, as consideration of appellant's specific claims in respect to each witness demonstrates.
Appellant claims that counsel was ineffective in his impeachment of Mr. Clarke, in that counsel did not (1) elicit that Mr. Clarke was never charged for selling drugs on the day that William Lloyd was murdered and (2) establish that Mr. Clarke failed to appear for an August 1994 court date for a theft charged under another name. The Commonwealth characterizes appellant's claims as baseless and frivolous. The Commonwealth points out that appellant never offered any proof by way of supporting documentary evidence that Mr. Clarke evaded drug charges in exchange for his testimony against appellant. As to the theft charge, the Commonwealth notes that Mr. Clarke did testify about the charge. Moreover, the only proof appellant cites as to particular aspects of Mr. Clarke's theft case comes from a hearing dated after appellant's trial and in an unrelated case. As we noted earlier, Criminal Rule 902(D) requires a PCRA petitioner to attach supporting documentary evidence for his claims or an explanation as to why such evidence was unavailable. When evidence is easily obtainable and would provide necessary support for a petitioner's claim, we have rejected claims that were unsupported by documentary evidence. See Commonwealth v. Begley, 566 Pa. 239, 780 A.2d 605, 630-31 (2001) (rejecting claim due to absence of affidavit stating witness would have been available to testify at trial); Commonwealth v. Collins, 546 Pa. 616, 687 A.2d 1112, 1115 (1996) (claim fails in absence of document showing petitioner requested appeal). Here, appellant never offered to prove that the Commonwealth bargained with Mr. Clarke in exchange for his testimony. Moreover, Mr. Clarke expressly denied at appellant's trial that he was promised any benefit from the Commonwealth in exchange for his testimony. N.T. 7/7/1995 at 76. On this record, appellant has failed to prove that defense counsel had a basis in fact to impeach Mr. Clarke's testimony in relation to the alleged lack of drug charges. Nor does appellant prove prejudice. Regarding the circumstances of Mr. Clarke's theft charge, appellant has not begun to establish that he was prejudiced by trial counsel's alleged failure to extract further details. At appellant's trial, Mr. Clarke admitted that he had an open theft charge pending against him. Id. We are unconvinced that Mr. Clarke's credibility would have been undermined to a materially greater degree if only trial counsel had also proven Mr. Clarke failed to attend a hearing in the case or that he had an alias. Neither of appellant's impeachment claims involving Mr. Clarke succeeds.
Appellant next argues that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach Mr. Burton, listing virtually the same evidence appellant claimed earlier in his Brief the Commonwealth was guilty of withholding from defense counsel. See supra at Section B(4)(c). Specifically, appellant argues that trial counsel should have impeached Mr. Burton with evidence that: (1) he was carrying an unregistered handgun on the night of the murder, yet faced no criminal charges for the act; (2) he operated a narcotics business out of his store and escaped prosecution in relation to that illegal business; (3) he failed to file IRS business records; (4) he entered the country illegally as a Minister of Religion; and (5) he used aliases. The Commonwealth revives its arguments from appellant's Brady claim. It notes that the jury would not be surprised that Mr. Burton had an unregistered weapon or did not file business records with the IRS. Additionally, the Commonwealth argues appellant never offered to prove that Mr. Burton's gun was unregistered or that Mr. Burton had not filed IRS records. As for the INS file, the Commonwealth again contends that it would not have been available to trial counsel since it did not exist at the time of appellant's trial. Finally, the Commonwealth notes that appellant never demonstrates how any of this information, if presented at trial, would have altered his verdict. We agree that appellant has not shown that he was prejudiced by trial counsel's alleged impeachment lapses. Establishing that Mr. Burton was involved in other illegal activities would not ineluctably alter the jury's opinion of him, much less lead to a different verdict. The INS record appellant cites did not exist at the time of trial; any accusation against counsel on that basis is frivolous. To the extent that appellant implies that Mr. Burton provided testimony in exchange for a promise of favorable treatment from the Commonwealth, appellant's allegations are unsupported by proof. These claims are baseless.
Appellant next claims that trial counsel should have impeached Ms. Beverly on the basis of false statements she gave to the police on the night of the murder. Since Ms. Beverly gave false statements to the police, appellant argues, she had a motive to lie at appellant's trial to avoid prosecution for her crime, contrary to the prosecutor's contentions at trial. Appellant also argues that his trial counsel should have elicited testimony from Ms. Beverly concerning the coercive pressure the police applied to produce her eventual statement against him. Appellant's Brief at 36. The Commonwealth argues that the record does not reflect that the police applied undue pressure on Ms. Beverly to force her to give a statement. Moreover, the Commonwealth notes, Ms. Beverly's displeasure with the police enhances her credibility because she cooperated with them despite that displeasure. As for appellant's charge that Ms. Beverly gave a false statement to police on the night of the murder, the Commonwealth notes that this is another of appellant's unsupported accusations. However, even if Ms. Beverly did give such a false statement, the Commonwealth asserts, such would be understandable given her frightened state. The Commonwealth notes that Ms. Beverly moved out of Philadelphia because she was threatened by appellant's friends to stay silent, which thoroughly undercuts appellant's speculation that she testified against him to escape criminal sanction. Appellant's trial counsel attempted to impeach Ms. Beverly on several counts, most notably, accusing her of having sexual relations with appellant for drugs and uncovering Ms. Beverly's former drug addiction. E.g., N.T. 7/11/1995 at 141-43; 160-61. Despite Ms. Beverly's admitted drug use, appellant was convicted of murdering William Lloyd. The additional impeachment evidence that appellant now argues should have been used at trial would not have changed that outcome. Indeed, the alleged impeachment evidence may well have bolstered Ms. Beverly's credibility. Ms. Beverly testified that she feared for her life after witnessing the crime and, after receiving threats not to talk to police, she decided to move her family away from Philadelphia. N.T. 7/10/1995 at 148, 180. Her fear would explain appellant's accusation, if only it were true, that Ms. Beverly lied to the police on the night of the murder about her identity. There is no evidence, however, that Ms. Beverly was threatened with or feared being prosecuted for making false statements to the police. Furthermore, had defense counsel established that Ms. Beverly gave a false statement to the police at the scene of the murder, this testimony would have undermined defense witness, Mr. Powell, who asserted that Ms. Beverly was not in the location where the murder occurred. Addressing appellant's accusation that the police coercively obtained a statement from Ms. Beverly, the record of the hearing that appellant cites to support his argument does not reflect that she was so compelled by the police. N.T. 2/22/1994 at 52-53. Instead, it illustrates that Ms. Beverly was angry with the police for bringing her to the police station when she had not eaten or bathed, but she nevertheless told the police what she observed. Once again, even if appellant's fictitious allegations were accepted as true, he has not proven that there is reasonable probability that the verdict would have been different had counsel presented these accusations to the jury.