Opinion ID: 2057218
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Investigate and Review Discovery and Evidence

Text: The applicant contends that her attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to adequately investigate her case, failing to obtain and review discovery documents, and failing to view a videotape of the drug deal. Defense counsel testified during the postconviction relief hearing, relying on both her memory and her case file notes. She stated that she entered an appearance for Rodrigues on March 14, 1994, and hand-delivered a motion for discovery to the prosecution that day. She testified that she had an investigator and interpreter visit Rodrigues in prison and that she met with Rodrigues  at least once with an interpreter several times before the plea proceeding. Defense counsel admitted that she never received discovery, nor did she view the videotape of the transaction. [6] She also testified that she was familiar with the case and the background facts because Rodrigues's arrest was one of a number of cases that her office handled involving an informant, Cesar Moreno, and the undercover officer in the case. She testified about the strength of the state's case, articulating that, I had cross-examined [this officer] many times, so I had some idea of how credible a witness he might be. Ordinarily a case involving a hand-to-hand delivery to a police officer is much stronger for the prosecution   . Defense counsel also noted that Rodrigues was not interested in going to trial and that she had been in prison since November 1993. Rodrigues also testified. She stated that she remembered meeting with her lawyer only once, on the morning of the plea, and that it was the investigator, not defense counsel, who informed her about the plea bargain. The hearing justice rejected Rodrigues's argument about ineffective assistance of counsel. As for the credibility of the witnesses, he found that defense counsel testified convincingly and that Rodrigues testified to a less certain degree. Although he noted that counsel perhaps should have spent more time with Rodrigues, he was satisfied that she was sufficiently familiar with the case and was cognizant of the credibility of the state's witnesses. The hearing justice found that Rodrigues desired that this ordeal conclude quickly, and that [t]he plea bargain struck by her attorney made her eligible for parole consideration in a very short period of time. It is our opinion that Rodrigues was provided with effective counsel. Defense counsel clearly was aware of the strength of the state's evidence and the undercover police officer's reputation for integrity and the likelihood that he would make an effective witness for the state. Defense counsel also was familiar with the facts surrounding applicant's case. Although only two people including Rodrigues, were arrested on the evening of November 6, 1993, applicant's arrest was just one of many arrests stemming from a large undercover operation that was handled by defense counsel's office. Additionally, defense counsel's failure to review any discovery in this case did not amount to constitutionally deficient representation. There was a criminal information package, in which voluminous material about applicant's case was produced ab initio, including inventory sheets, fingerprint evidence, and statements from the police witnesses. The applicant has failed to point to any other materialsave for the lost videotapethat was not provided and wholly has failed to demonstrate that such phantom proof would have influenced her decision to plead guilty. Although defense counsel did not evaluate the allegedly exculpatory videotape of the transaction, we are satisfied that this did not prejudice Rodrigues, who admitted in open court, numerous times, that she was guilty of the charges. In LaChappelle, 686 A.2d at 927, this Court denied the defendant's allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to investigate. In that case, counsel failed to interview witnesses and also neglected to obtain a medical report that allegedly contained exculpatory evidence. Id. We noted that the report was not exculpatory, and we also noted that counsel's failure to interview witnesses was not inappropriate, particularly in light of the defendant's own statements to police. Id. Here, although counsel did not review the tape, which applicant suggests may contain evidence suggesting that applicant did not know she was delivering drugs, Rodrigues admitted in court that she knew what she was doing and knew what she was passing out. We are satisfied that failure to review the videotape, which apparently has disappeared, did not amount to ineffective assistance of counsel. Furthermore, it has not escaped our attention that the experienced and respected attorney who served as defense counsel was able to secure a favorable disposition; Rodrigues was faced with the potential for a much longer sentence than the one-year term she served. This Court previously has held that a lawyer's performance in advising a client to enter a plea involving a shorter sentence than the client otherwise might have received is not ineffective assistance of counsel, such that the client's constitutional rights have been violated. See, e.g., Pelletier, 966 A.2d at 1241-42 (counsel's decision to suggest that the applicant plea nolo contendere rather than face a potentially long jail sentence was not constitutionally ineffective); Gonder v. State, 935 A.2d 82, 88 (R.I.2007) (acknowledging that, if the defendant did not follow advice of counsel and accept the plea, the defendant ran the risk of receiving a much more serve sentence, and thus, counsel's performance was not deficient); Hassett, 899 A.2d at 437 (noting that because there was a strong possibility that the defendant may have received a more severe sentence had he not followed counsel's advice to accept a plea, the defendant could not demonstrate prejudice by counsel's allegedly deficient performance).