Opinion ID: 767895
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Skelton's Concurrent Representation of Fletcher During Perillo's Second Trial

Text: 33 Eventually, Perillo's case was scheduled for retrial. The court appointed attorney Robert Pelton to represent Perillo. Pelton had never tried a capital case before, but he ran several machine shops with a more senior lawyer, Jim Skelton. Pelton asked Skelton to join Perillo's defense, and in November 1983, Skelton was likewise appointed to represent Perillo. Skelton's first instinct upon being appointed was to call Fletcher to alert her that he would be handling Perillo's case. 34 Skelton did not similarly alert Perillo concerning the circumstances of his prior representation of Fletcher. In particular, Perillo was not made aware that Skelton's strategy at Fletcher's trial was to pin the blame on Perillo and Briddle and to develop evidence making them look as bad as possible, that Skelton had an ongoing personal friendship with Fletcher of such a nature that Skelton gave Fletcher away at her wedding, that Skelton had aligned himself with the victims' interests and encouraged Fletcher to meet with the victims to answer their questions about the crimes, that Skelton had negotiated a grant of immunity for Fletcher in exchange for Fletcher's damaging testimony against Briddle, that Skelton continued to represent Fletcher during Briddle's trial, or that Fletcher's preserved testimony at Briddle's trial alleged new and damaging details about Perillo's own conduct. To the contrary, Perillo knew nothing more than that Skelton had secured a very favorable sentence for Fletcher and that she hoped he would be able to do the same in her case. 35 Jury voir dire began in Perillo's second trial on October 8, 1984. On October 19, 1984, Perillo's trial judge issued a subpoena to compel Fletcher, who was still living in California, to return to Texas. Once again, Skelton's first impulse was to call Fletcher to alert her about the subpoena. Fletcher did not want to testify because she wanted to put all this behind her. She asked Skelton to come to California to represent her in her efforts to quash the subpoena. Skelton left, during the pendency of Perillo's trial, and went to California at Fletcher's request. While in California, Skelton went to Fletcher's home to meet with Fletcher and her husband about Fletcher's potential testimony. 36 Skelton and Fletcher have testified consistently that Skelton was providing legal counsel to and representing Fletcher in the California hearing. Skelton argued on Fletcher's behalf that she should not have to return to Texas. Fletcher testified that it occurred to her at the time that Skelton might be in a conflict of interest situation based upon his prior representation of her at trial and his concurrent representation of she and Perillo in California. Fletcher further testified that she at no time had the impression that Skelton was in California to represent Perillo. Rather, she considered him to be there as her lawyer. 37 Perillo's prosecution team filed documents in support of the subpoena, including a statement prepared by the state trial court judge that Fletcher's testimony was considered necessary in Perillo's case. Fletcher has testified that she believed atthe time of the California hearing that she could still be prosecuted if she were to return to testify against Perillo. The state prepared correspondence stating that, if Fletcher would return to testify against Perillo, the state would again seek a grant of transactional immunity in exchange for her testimony. Although there is no record evidence suggesting that Skelton, or even Fletcher, negotiated that renewed grant of immunity, the offer of renewed immunity was made at a time when Skelton was simultaneously representing Fletcher and Perillo. Without regard to which grant of immunity (the Briddle immunity or the Perillo immunity) was controlling, the record is clear that Fletcher could have been prosecuted for perjury if her testimony were proven materially false. 38 The record reflects that when prosecutors went looking for the previous grant of transactional immunity relative to Briddle's trial, they were unable to find it. The record further contains: (1) a written request that immunity be granted, which is signed by district attorney Johnny Holmes, and (2) court pleadings petitioning the court for an order granting Fletcher immunity. The court pleadings are not, however, signed by any judicial authority. See Graham, 994 S.W.2d at 654-56. As a consequence, the technical status of Fletcher's immunity when she returned to testify against Perillo is likewise unclear. At a minimum, however, Fletcher was the beneficiary of a prosecutorial promise not to prosecute that arose either from Skelton's negotiation of Fletcher's immunity before the Briddle trial, or from the state's renewed offer of immunity at a time when Skelton was representing both Fletcher and Perillo in California. 39 The California court ordered Fletcher to testify, and Skelton did not appeal or otherwise challenge that ruling. Skelton views his concurrent representation of Fletcher and Perillo as without conflict because Perillo likewise had an obvious and compelling interest in keeping Fletcher in California. The record reflects, however, that the California order directing Fletcher's return, and indeed the state's request for Fletcher's return, did not pose any difficult issues. Indeed, Perillo's prosecutors testified in this proceeding that, where the state was paying for her return, the state was confirming the availability of immunity, and Fletcher was a direct witness to the events leading to a capital murder, the California order directing her return was expected, and indeed almost pro forma. 40 The apparent inevitability that Fletcher would be ordered to return raises a serious question about the extent to which Perillo, as opposed to Fletcher, would even potentially be benefitted by Skelton's services in California. Moreover, that apparent inevitability should have brought home to Skelton the fact that his two clients' interests, should Fletcher be ordered to return, would rapidly diverge. Fletcher's primary interest would be in avoiding further prosecution. To do so, she would need to testify in a manner consistent with the damaging details revealed in her Briddle testimony in order to avoid being charged with perjury or invalidating the immunity agreement that was either negotiated by Skelton or secured while he represented her. Perillo would need to undermine Fletcher's credibility and impeach Fletcher's testimony by any means possible, in order to minimize the effect of Fletcher's damaging testimony. Perillo would also need to emphasize Fletcher's own involvement in order to highlight the disparity between Fletcher's punishment of five years probation and a potential death sentence in Perillo's case. 2