Opinion ID: 1212322
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background of the Claim

Text: Whatley forced Bunn at gunpoint to lie on the floor next to the cash register during the robbery, and Bunn remained there until all of the shooting had stopped. The theory presented to the jury by the State at trial was that, as Whatley began backing away from the service counter, he fired twice, once at Allen at close range and once downward toward Bunn. Bunn's testimony under direct examination in the guilt/innocence phase was consistent with this theory, as he maintained that he had heard two shots fired before Allen stepped over him to pursue Whatley. Trial counsel then cross-examined Bunn by specifically referring to a statement Bunn made to police on the night of the murder, January 26, 1995. The written investigative summary counsel was referring to in his cross-examination reports that Bunn stated as follows on January 26: [Whatley] moved off of me and backed around the counter, when he went around the counter and Ed come around over top of me going after him. I don't know where he was. I was still laying on the floor when I heard the shot. Counsel did not read this statement aloud at trial but, instead, simply had the witness himself acknowledge that he did not tell the police in his January 26 interview that shots were fired before Allen stepped over him. Counsel specifically stated that it was the January 26 interview that he was relying on in forming his questions to Bunn. Bunn explained his account in his January 26 interview regarding the timing of the shots by stating that he was upset during that interview. Counsel, by pointing out to Bunn that Allen had not bled on him, was also able to get Bunn to admit on cross-examination that he did not know when Allen was shot. Whatley testified in the sentencing phase to a version of events different from Bunn's: Whatley claimed that he never intended to shoot anyone and that he fired at Allen only after Allen pulled out his gun. At the habeas hearing, Whatley presented an audio recording [2] of an interview of Bunn that was conducted the day after the murder, January 27. Whatley obtained the recording through an Open Records Act request to the Griffin Police Department, which request was legally available only after Whatley's criminal case was concluded. [3] Like the January 26 statement used by counsel at trial, part of the January 27 interview at least arguably suggests that Allen stepped over Bunn to pursue Whatley before any shots were fired. Bunn stated as follows in the January 27 interview: [Whatley] done got the money and all, you know. I figured he's going on out, and that's when I see Ed go over me, and he went out, and that's when the shooting and all starts. However, earlier in this January 27 interview, Bunn gave a different chronology, stating as follows: Then [Whatley] got off me, and backed around the corner, you know. I guess he was going on back toward the door. I heard something start shooting. Then I seen Ed come across me, on around the corner, too. Next thing I know I just kept hearing, ya know, gun shots. Thus, at the most, the January 27 interview contains two contradictory chronologies, one placing the shooting before Allen stepped over Bunn to pursue Whatley and one placing the shooting after. Furthermore, in between these two arguably contradictory chronologies in the January 27 interview, Bunn expressed uncertainty when asked specifically whether the shots began before or after Allen stepped over him and went around the corner of the counter. Bunn was then further asked, Who started shooting? He responded as follows: I guess [Whatley]. But, you know, I don't know. He then provided the following explanation for his uncertainty: [I]t happened so quick, and I'm all shook up, too. Whatley argues that his cross-examination of Bunn would have been enhanced if counsel had been provided the January 27 interview, particularly because counsel could have emphasized that, although Bunn might have been confused because he was upset on January 26, he would have calmed down by January 27 and would have given a more accurate account of the crime. Whatley argues that the portion of the January 27 interview in which Bunn arguably indicated that Allen began to pursue Whatley before any shots were fired could have been used to show that Whatley did not enter the store with the intent to commit murder, which the jury might have found mitigating in the sentencing phase.