Opinion ID: 853338
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Timberlake's Claims

Text: As a preliminary matter, Timberlake's claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel appears to consist of several parts and subparts: (1) appellate counsel was ineffective for raising trial counsel ineffectiveness in the direct appeal (a) by reason of participation of trial counsel in the appeal and (b) for having raised the issue at all; (2) appellate counsel was ineffective in raising shortcomings of trial counsel in the guilt phase by either (a) not raising claims or (b) not adequately supporting them; and (3) appellate counsel was ineffective in presenting trial counsel's errors in the penalty and sentencing phases, either by (a) not raising claims or (b) not adequately supporting them.
Timberlake first claims that appellate counsel was ineffective for raising trial counsel's ineffectiveness on direct appeal because one of the trial attorneys, Ellen O'Connor, was also appellate counsel. Timberlake claims that this created a conflict of interest that requires review of this contention under the standard set forth in Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980), for claims of conflicted counsel. The postconviction court found, Trial counsel Ellen O'Connor was originally appointed as co-counsel because of her relationship with Petitioner, but Menadue asked O'Connor to withdraw her appearance, which O'Connor did, before the briefs were written. O'Connor did not participate in the writing or review of the appellate briefs. Although O'Connor's motion to withdraw was denied by this Court, the postconviction court's finding of no actual conflict of interest is supported by testimony from both Menadue and O'Connor that O'Connor did not write or review the appellate brief. That finding is not clearly erroneous and eliminates the factual predicate of this contention. Timberlake also argues that appellate counsel was ineffective for raising three grounds of trial counsel ineffective assistance of counsel in the direct appeal: (1) failure to confront McElroy with evidence challenging his credibility, (2) failure to present mitigation evidence at the penalty phase, and (3) failure to present and argue mitigation at the sentencing phase. He argues that these claims should have been preserved for postconviction because there was not an adequate record on direct appeal to establish prejudice. The postconviction court did not directly address this contention, but observed that Timberlake argued that these claims of ineffective trial assistance were raised on appeal without sufficient investigation. To prevail on this claim, Timberlake must show not only that appellate counsel performed deficiently by raising these claims on direct appeal, but also that evidence established in postconviction relief would have proved trial counsel's ineffectiveness. Because Timberlake has failed to establish deficient performance by his appellate counsel, he has not satisfied his burden. At the time of Timberlake's direct appeal, Woods v. State, 701 N.E.2d 1208 (Ind.1998), had not been decided. Appellate counsel Menadue testified that the case law in Indiana was not crystal clear as to when ineffective assistance of trial counsel should be raised. Indeed, in Woods we acknowledged this ambiguity: Despite the frequency with which challenges to the effectiveness of trial representation appear in postconviction petitions in this State, this Court has not conclusively resolved whether waiver of this claim (1) always arises from a failure to raise it on direct appeal, or (2) never does, or (3) turns on whether there was or might have been a need for extrinsic evidence to assess either attorney competence or prejudice. Id. at 1213. Menadue testified in postconviction relief that she concluded that she was required to raise the trial counsel ineffectiveness claims that appeared on the face of the record or risk waiver of these claims. Menadue raised the issue of trial counsel ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal after consultation with Timberlake's trial counsel and investigation staff and several other attorneys. She faced the choice of either raising the claims on direct appeal without the benefit of extensive extra-record research or risking waiver. Although in hindsight, her decision may not have been the best one, that is not the standard by which we evaluate her actions. As this Court has stated, Judicial scrutiny of counsel's performance is highly deferential and should not be exercised through the distortions of hindsight. Spranger v. State, 650 N.E.2d 1117, 1121 (Ind.1995). Judged by this standard, Menadue's decision did not fall below an objective standard of reasonableness.

Timberlake also argues that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise trial counsel's ineffectiveness for not pursuing an intoxication defense. The postconviction court addressed this as an issue of trial counsel ineffective assistance of counsel and found that trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to pursue an intoxication defense because it was inconsistent with Timberlake's principal claim that he was not the shooter. Moreover, there was evidence that Timberlake drank both before and after the shooting, making any conclusions about his intoxication level at the time of the murder highly speculative. Appellate counsel did not raise this issue on appeal. Therefore, this claim is reviewed as a Bieghler type two issue, that is, failure to present an issue. This Court has noted several times the need for a reviewing court to be deferential to appellate counsel on this issue: [T]he reviewing court should be particularly sensitive to the need for separating the wheat from the chaff in appellate advocacy, and should not find deficient performance when counsel's choice of some issues over others was reasonable in light of the facts of the case and the precedent available to counsel when that choice was made. Bieghler, 690 N.E.2d at 194. This Court has approved of the two-part test used by the Seventh Circuit to evaluate these claims: (1) whether the unraised issues are significant and obvious from the face of the record and (2) whether the unraised issues are clearly stronger than the raised issues. Id. (quoting Gray v. Greer, 800 F.2d 644, 646 (7th Cir.1986)). Otherwise stated, to prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, a defendant must show from the information available in the trial record or otherwise known to appellate counsel that appellate counsel failed to present a significant and obvious issue and that this failure cannot be explained by any reasonable strategy. Ben-Yisrayl, 738 N.E.2d at 260-61. Menadue filed a 154-page brief and raised twenty-eight issues. She thoroughly reviewed the record and interviewed trial counsel and other members of Timberlake's legal team before choosing what issues to raise on appeal. She was not deficient for failing to raise this issue because it was neither significant nor carried a reasonable probability of success. Although there was evidence that Timberlake was intoxicated at the time of the murder, he has not established that this defense would have had a reasonable probability of success at trial. Under the law at the time, in order to succeed on a defense of voluntary intoxication, the intoxication had to be so severe as to preclude the defendant's ability to form the requisite mens rea. Ferguson v. State, 594 N.E.2d 790, 792 (Ind.1992). Evidence that the defendant could plan, operate equipment, instruct the behavior of others, carry out acts requiring physical skill, disengage and leave the scene, and find his way to a friend's home seeking aid show that his intoxication was not so great as to relieve him from responsibility for his acts. Id. (citing Hughett v. State, 557 N.E.2d 1015, 1017-18 (Ind.1990)). Here, Timberlake was able to shoot Greene, flee the scene of the crime, and then phone for assistance. There was no reasonable probability that the defense would have succeeded at trial. [6] Timberlake's argument fails for a second reason as well. We think it is clear that trial counsel was not deficient for failing to raise Timberlake's intoxication at the guilt phase. Timberlake's defense was that McElroy did the shooting. Trial counsel's decision not to pursue a voluntary intoxication defense was a reasonable professional decision to avoid seemingly inconsistent defenses. Because trial counsel was not deficient, appellate counsel cannot be deficient for failing to raise this issue.
Timberlake also challenges the handling of State witness Roy Hood. Hood was a passing motorist who claimed to have seen a man fitting Timberlake's description shoot Greene. Before trial, Hood made several inconsistent statements about the incident. At the postconviction relief proceeding, Hood testified that when he saw Greene, he had already been shot. Also, at the postconviction relief hearing, a coworker of Hood's testified that Hood had told specific lies to him and was a liar with a bad reputation in the community. The postconviction court again addressed this issue only in terms of ineffective assistance of trial counsel: [T]rial counsel was intimately familiar with the State's case and witnesses and manyif not allsignificant witnesses were deposed by trial counsel. Petitioner cannot show that trial counsel performed deficiently in this regard. Because appellate counsel did not raise this issue on appeal, it again presents a Bieghler type two issue. Therefore, Timberlake must show from the information available in the trial record or otherwise known to appellate counsel that appellate counsel failed to present a significant and obvious issue and that this failure cannot be explained by any reasonable strategy. Ben-Yisrayl, 738 N.E.2d at 260-61. This issue does not appear to be a significant and obvious one. In any event, it would not have established trial counsel ineffectiveness. Although Hood was not questioned at trial about all the inconsistencies discovered by postconviction investigation, trial counsel did cross-examine Hood on several discrepancies in his statements. As we noted in the direct appeal: As defendant made clear during his cross-examination of Hood, there were inconsistencies. However, the basic points of his testimony remained the same and were corroborated by others. Timberlake, 690 N.E.2d at 253 n. 1. We cannot say that the postconviction evidence unmistakably and unerringly points to a conclusion contrary to the postconviction court's on the issue of trial counsel's performance in this respect. Furthermore, Timberlake has not established that appellate counsel was deficient based on the information available to her which did not include information on Hood's reputation for dishonestyat the time of the direct appeal. Because Timberlake has established neither deficient performance nor prejudice on this point at the trial level, this issue was not an obvious one which appellate counsel was deficient for failing to raise.
Timberlake claims that appellate counsel ineffectively raised trial counsel's ineffectiveness in failing to cross-examine McElroy. Menadue challenged trial counsel's handling of McElroy, Timberlake, 690 N.E.2d at 260, but Timberlake now claims that she was ineffective in her handling of this claim because the postconviction record established that McElroy was under the influence of anti-psychotic drugs, was undergoing counseling, and had been threatened with the death penalty, all of which may have affected his perceptions on the day of the shooting and were not presented in her claim of trial counsel ineffective assistance of counsel. The postconviction court found this claim to be res judicata as to trial counsel ineffective assistance of counsel and did not address it as to appellate ineffective assistance of counsel. This claim asserts a type three Bieghler error. This Court observed that [c]laims of inadequate presentation of certain issues, when such were not deemed waived in the direct appeal, are the most difficult for convicts to advance and reviewing tribunals to support. Bieghler, 690 N.E.2d at 195 (emphasis in original). These claims are reviewed under the highest standards of deference to counsel's performance and relief will be awarded only where the appellate court is confident it would have ruled differently. Id. at 196. We do not believe that Timberlake has established either prong of the Strickland test with respect to this claim. Menadue's failure to include evidence of McElroy's medications in her challenge to trial counsel's handling of his cross-examination does not rise to the level of deficient performance given the role and function of appellate counsel on direct appeal. First, Menadue cannot be measured by information unknown to appellate counsel but later developed after the appeal by post-conviction counsel. Ben-Yisrayl, 738 N.E.2d at 261. Second, McElroy was questioned extensively at trial and at postconviction and his version of events never changed with respect to his identification of Timberlake. Timberlake, 690 N.E.2d at 252 (McElroy did not waver in his identification of defendant as the shooter, nor was his testimony unsupported by other witnesses or circumstantial evidence. The jury was aware of the inconsistencies and was faced with the responsibility of judging the credibility of the witnesses and determining what occurred.). Finally, the record challenging this omission does not establish a reasonable probability that McElroy's perception was clouded. [7] The postconviction evidence therefore does not establish a reasonable probability of a different result. Because Timberlake did not establish trial counsel ineffectiveness on this point, he cannot establish that appellate counsel was ineffective for inadequate presentation of this issue.
Timberlake also challenges appellate counsel's handling of trial counsel's performance during the penalty and sentencing phases.
Timberlake first argues that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise trial counsel's ineffectiveness in not presenting any evidence, argument, or instructions on intoxication at the penalty and sentencing phases. Although the postconviction court did not address the intoxication issue specifically, it did note that appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise eighteen specific claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel because Timberlake cannot show that these alleged errors of trial counsel denied him a fair trial. This claim was not raised in the direct appeal, and is thus a Bieghler type two issue. As we noted earlier, reviewing courts are particularly deferential to appellate counsel's decisions on what issues to raise. Using the two-part test from Bieghler, it is clear that although the issue of intoxication was obvious from the face of the record, it is not clearly stronger than the issues raised by appellate counsel. Menadue raised twenty-eight issues in her appellate brief, including that trial counsel was ineffective at all three phases of the trial. She also raised four instances of ineffectiveness in the guilt phase, including trial counsel's failure to present mitigation evidence. Although intoxication may be a mitigating factor, this Court does not require it to be considered. See Legue v. State, 688 N.E.2d 408, 411 (Ind.1997). As already noted, Timberlake was able to fire a gun, escape, and place a telephone call for help. We cannot say that it was unreasonable to raise the arguments that were presented in lieu of a claim of trial ineffectiveness based on inadequate presentation of intoxication as mitigation.
Timberlake claims that appellate counsel ineffectively presented trial counsel's ineffectiveness for failure to present mitigation evidence at the penalty phase. Specifically, Timberlake claims that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to subpoena any witnesses for the penalty phase and for failing to present expert witnesses, and that this led to the presentation of no mitigation evidence. Menadue raised this issue in the direct appeal and this Court concluded that trial counsel may have reasonably concluded that to argue any mitigation evidence would be ineffective and would open the door to damaging rebuttal. Timberlake, 690 N.E.2d at 261. The postconviction court, in addressing this issue as one of trial counsel ineffectiveness, stated that [t]here can be no question that trial counsel also conducted a proper mitigation investigation[,] effectively investigated the strength of the State's request for the death penalty[,] and presented the most appropriate defense to that request, given the facts of the Petitioner's crime and his lengthy criminal history. Under the deferential standard of review of this claim, Timberlake has failed to establish his claim of appellate counsel ineffective assistance of counsel for two reasons. First, he has not established that Menadue's handling of the issue on direct appeal was deficient. From the information known to Menadue and available in the record, she cannot be deficient for failing to contend that the lack of subpoenas was the cause of the deficient performance. This information only became available in postconviction relief, and, thus, is not relevant to her performance. Furthermore, because the lack of mitigation evidence was ascertainable from the record, Menadue did not err in raising this issue on direct appeal. See Part III.A. Second, Timberlake has not established that there was prejudice from trial counsel's failure to present mitigation evidence and, therefore, any prejudice from appellate counsel's performance. The death penalty aggravator in this case is Indiana Code section 35-50-2-9(b)(6), the killing of a police officer in the course of duty. As we have previously noted, The killing of a police officer in the course of duty is a most serious crime. Police officers routinely risk their lives in the sometimes high stakes gamble of protecting society. They do a job that we all want and need done, though few of us possess the bravery and skill to do. They ask for little in return, but they do ask for some protection. The General Assembly recognized this in enacting the statutory aggravator of Indiana Code § 35-50-2-9(b)(6). The seriousness of this aggravator is magnified in the present case due to defendant's use of such deadly force to kill an unaware and unsuspecting police officer in an otherwise nonviolent and ordinary arrest. Lambert v. State, 675 N.E.2d 1060, 1066 (Ind.1996) (citations omitted). Although trial counsel could have presented evidence of Timberlake's difficult childhood and substance abuse problems, this evidence has previously been held to be not very weighty. See Coleman v. State, 741 N.E.2d 697, 700 (Ind.2000); Peterson v. State, 674 N.E.2d 528, 543 (Ind.1996). In this case, Timberlake shot a police officer for no apparent reason after the officer had allowed Timberlake to go free. This situation is, if anything, more egregious than Lambert, where the defendant had been arrested by the police officer he killed. Furthermore, Timberlake's mitigation evidence was that his family was poor, his parents were alcoholics, and Timberlake had a problem with alcohol. Although Timberlake's father was physically abusive, the evidence is not nearly as disturbing as that presented in Coleman. [8] As in this case, Coleman's counsel presented no mitigating evidence, but relied instead on a general religious and moral argument against the death penalty and a request for mercy. We concluded that: Taking into consideration all the evidence, both presented and omitted, and our previous holdings that a difficult childhood carries little mitigating weight, we conclude that it is extremely unlikely that the sentencing result would have been different had Coleman's trial counsel presented credible evidence of Coleman's childhood abuse and neglect. Because we find no reasonable probability that Coleman would have avoided a death sentence based on the omitted evidence, Coleman's claim of IAC at the penalty and sentencing phase of his trial fails under the second prong of Strickland. Coleman, 741 N.E.2d at 703. Given the minor weight of the mitigators and the aggravator present in this case, there is not a reasonable probability that the jury would have found the mitigators to outweigh the very weighty aggravator. Because appellate counsel was not deficient and there was no trial court prejudice, Timberlake fails on this claim.
Timberlake also challenges appellate counsel's presentation of trial counsel's failure to present mitigation evidence in the sentencing phase. Appellate counsel raised this issue on direct appeal, and for the same reasons discussed above in Part III.B.3.b, Timberlake fails on this claim as well.