Opinion ID: 2089125
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: David Scott

Text: Appellant contends that counsel was ineffective for calling David Scott to testify because it was Scott's testimony which placed a gun in appellant's hand. Both Gary and Allen Carson had testified during the Commonwealth's case-in-chief that appellant had been standing between Bennet and Faison at the time of the shooting. Scott testified that he could not identify appellant as having been present at the scene. However, Scott also testified that the person standing between Faison and Bennet had a gun and fired some of the shots. Appellant argues that Scott's testimony was not necessary because the defense strategy was not that appellant was not there, but, rather, that appellant was merely present and did not participate in the shootings, and that therefore counsel was ineffective for calling a witness who offered incriminating testimony. Trial counsel testified at the evidentiary hearing on post-verdict motions that he called Scott as a defense witness because Scott was an eyewitness to the crimes and had repeatedly stated to trial counsel prior to trial that he did not recall appellant being present at the scene, including in the hallway just before the defense case was commenced. Trial counsel was also aware that Scott had told police that there had been three assailants and he had identified one of those assailants, Junior, from a photographic array, but that, despite having a better view of the three assailants than the other witnesses, Scott had not given any description that matched appellant and had been unable to identify appellant either at two line-ups, the preliminary hearing or trial as one of the assailants. [9] Given that two other eyewitnesses had already testified that appellant was standing between two of the co-conspirators, and was therefore in the heart of the action, it was reasonable for trial counsel to call a witness whose testimony could call into question the testimony of the other eyewitnesses. [10] Thus, Scott's testimony indicating that appellant was not the middle person was consistent with appellant's defense of mere presence. Trial counsel can not be deemed ineffective because the witness ultimately testified in an inconclusive fashion for the first time on cross-examination that the appellant could have been the person in the middle with a gun.