Opinion ID: 159988
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: preclusion of inmates' testimony

Text: 46 Mr. McGregor asserts that the trial court deprived him of his constitutional rights to compulsory process and to present mitigating evidence by refusing to compel the presence of three inmates he sought to have testify on his behalf. Clearly established Supreme Court precedent holds that a defendant's right to due process and compulsory process includes the right to present witnesses in his defense. Boyd v. Ward, 179 F.3d 904, 921 (10th Cir. 1999) (citing cases), cert. denied, 120 S. Ct. 1188 (2000). To obtain habeas relief, however, Mr. McGregor must show that the exclusion of his witnesses rendered his trial fundamentally unfair. See id. That inquiry turns on whether the excluded evidence was material--that is, whether it might have affected the trial's outcome. Id. (quotation omitted). 47 Further, clearly established Supreme Court precedent requires that a capital sentencer not be precluded from considering, as a mitigating factor, any aspect of the defendant's character or record, and any of the circumstances of the offense that the defendant proffers as a basis for a sentence less than death. Id. (quotations omitted; citing cases). As long as the mitigating evidence is within the sentencer's effective reach, however, the Eighth Amendment is satisfied. See id. 48 Mr. McGregor argues that he required the testimony of inmates Johnny Garrison and Omar White to testify to his mental condition at the time of this trial. He does not specify to what these inmates would have testified. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals held that this testimony was irrelevant. See McGregor, 885 P.2d at 1379. In light of his failure to establish a bona fide doubt concerning his competency to stand trial, the state appellate court's determination that this testimony was irrelevant was reasonable. Nor was this evidence material for sentencing purposes, in light of the significant amount of evidence Mr. McGregor did present concerning his mental illness. 49 He asserts he required the testimony of inmate James Winters concerning his mental condition at the time of the crime. Winters shared a cell with Mr. McGregor in June 1983. Mr. McGregor contends Winters could have testified to Mr. McGregor's mental state at that time, including corroborating his claims that he requested cigarettes and medication, and that he once returned from interrogation with cigarettes in his pockets. In light of the reasonableness of the state courts' determination that any denial of medication and cigarettes did not amount to coercion, Winters' proffered testimony was not material to any first-stage issues. Nor would this testimony have been relevant during sentencing.