Opinion ID: 2517672
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Boyd Had Cuts on His Hands After the Killings

Text: Petitioner alleges that, had trial counsel conducted a reasonable investigation, he would have discovered that shortly after the murders, Boyd had numerous cuts on his hands and told a false story in an attempt to explain them. Testimony at the evidentiary hearing supports this allegation: James Moss testified that shortly after the murders, when he overheard Boyd and Marcus make incriminating comments about their complicity in the murders, he noticed Boyd's hands were partially wrapped and he had cuts on his hands and puncture wounds up around the knuckles. The cuts looked like they could have been made by a knife. Steven Rice testified that shortly after the murders, he noticed Boyd had a cut on his knuckles as if he had punched something. Sandra Harris Moss testified that shortly after Reilly was arrested, she noticed Boyd had a long cut on his right hand, near the knuckle, that looked infected. Boyd told her he had injured it working with a friend on a car engine. Boyd testified he did not recall having any cuts on his hands in the days following the murders and denied having injured himself working on a car, admitting, I was never a mechanic. Arzetta Harvey testified she did not recall seeing any cuts on Boyd's hands around the time of the murders. The referee noted that several witnesses noticed cuts on Boyd's hands in the days following the crimes and concluded Boyd's denial that he had cuts on his hands was not credible and was, in fact, false. Respondent denies petitioner's factual allegations, relying on Boyd's and Harvey's testimony at the evidentiary hearing, and further contends that even if Boyd had the alleged cuts, it does not prove he was the murderer or that petitioner was innocent of the murders, as there was no evidence indicating the circumstances under which Boyd had sustained the cuts or whether the victims' killers had cut their hands during the crimes. Respondent takes exception to the referee's findings on the same grounds. Although having cuts on his hands just after the brutal double murder and telling a falsehood as to their origin does not prove definitively that Boyd was the murderer, this evidence is certainly relevant, especially as to Boyd's state of mind and, coupled with other evidence such as his incriminating admissions, could have convinced the jury to entertain some doubt as to the scope of petitioner's involvement in the murders. We thus overrule respondent's exceptions. Substantial evidence (i.e., the testimony of James Moss, Steven Rice and Sandra Moss) supports the referee's findings regarding the cuts on Boyd's hands. Accordingly, those findings are entitled to deference, and we adopt them.