Opinion ID: 1882598
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Failure to Investigate Suspects Steve Casey and Raymond Hamilton

Text: Suggs claims that his trial counsel failed to investigate the fabricated testimony of Steve Casey and Ray Hamilton. Casey testified that he was at home trying to sell his truck on the night his wife was murdered. Although he could not remember exactly how much money he received in exchange for the truck, he testified that he sold it for something like twelve or fifteen hundred dollars. Ray Hamilton corroborated this alibi by testifying that Casey informed him that he had sold the truck when the two spoke on the phone on the evening of the murder. Suggs argues that if his counsel had investigated, they would have found evidence that contradicted Casey's alibi. However, defense attorney Stewart testified that prior to trial, defense counsel in fact conducted an investigation into the sale of the vehicle. According to Stewart, trial counsel checked public records for evidence of the sale, but the search did not produce any results. Stewart testified that after the trial, he received a phone call from the daughter of the man who purchased the truck. An investigator hired by Stewart had contacted the daughter, and she returned Stewart's call after the trial. Stewart testified that the woman told him that the car was sold on the day before the murder, not the day of the murder, as Casey and Hamilton claimed. Suggs alleges in his brief that the woman also told Stewart that the car was purchased for only three hundred dollars, far less than the estimated amount Casey gave during his testimony. However, Stewart's testimony at the evidentiary hearing did not address the sale price of the truck, and there is no other record evidence of this woman discussing the price of the truck with Stewart. We also note that the woman was not a witness at the postconviction evidentiary hearing. The postconviction court found that trial counsel was not deficient in conducting the investigation and noted that the information concerning the sale of the truck was not discovered until after trial. The record supports this finding, and we affirm the postconviction court's denial of relief. Even if we were to assume a deficiency in failing to investigate this matter further, we find no basis in the record that establishes prejudice in support of Suggs' claim for relief. Moreover, defense counsel challenged the credibility of Casey and Hamilton at trial, including proving that following the murder, Casey had quickly sought payment on a life insurance policy that he had on his wife. We therefore find no error in the postconviction court's conclusion that Suggs failed to show either a deficiency or prejudice.