Opinion ID: 771185
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Impact of McKee and Flota Testimony

Text: 48 The prosecution emphasized the McKee and Flota testimony during its closing argument, referring to four eyewitnesses. In its closing, the prosecution referred to the taperecorded statements several times, even quoting from their transcripts. As the United States Supreme Court has noted, Not only are the incriminations [of co-defendants] devastating to the defendant but their credibility is inevitably suspect . . . . Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 136 (1968). McKee's and Flota's statements, especially as they dovetailed with the testimony of Hughes and Massey, were clearly prejudicial to Whelchel. Each of the four tended to corroborate the others, thereby bolstering the credibility of each. 49 While corroborative evidence may, as a general rule, make the wrongful introduction of other evidence harmless, this concept has no application where: (1) there was a reason for the jury to doubt the only eyewitness testimony; (2) the third party testimony was not exceptionally strong; and (3) the physical evidence connecting the accused to the crime was limited and explained by the suspect's claimed role of accessory after the fact. 50 Without the McKee and Flota statements, the prosecution presented the jury only one true eyewitness, Massey, who had two possible reasons to testify falsely -first, to shift blame when plea bargaining for a lighter sentence, especially since Massey admitted striking Margo, and second, to punish an ex-boyfriend who threatened to turn the murderers in to the police. The McKee and Flota statements contained important facts not testified to by either Hughes or Massey. For example, McKee and Flota recounted a game they allegedly played with Whelchel to determine who would strike the fatal blows and said that Whelchel decided to kill Margo even though he was not selected through the game. McKee and Flota also added that Whelchel assisted in the disposal of Margo's body after the murder. 51 McKee's and Flota's tape-recorded statements were not wholly cumulative of other evidence. Since co-defendant testimony is inherently suspect, the corroborative value of the McKee and Flota statements vis a vis the Massey and Hughes testimony was potentially significant to the jury's verdict. Moreover, this was not a case where the physical evidence or the third party testimony overwhelmingly pointed to Whelchel's guilt. Therefore, we cannot hold that the constitutional error in this case was harmless.