Opinion ID: 2633199
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Tactical Justifications for the Scope of the Investigation

Text: The referee found James Chaffee a truthful and believable witness. We accept that credibility finding. The referee found that Chaffee offered the following tactical justifications for the scope of his investigation. Chaffee viewed Cercy's testimony as a double-edged sword because she might or might not come across well on the stand, but her testimony would at least muddy the water for the prosecution. Chaffee did not look for Bo in the Grateful Dead community because he wanted to try the case on Cercy's testimony. He was uncertain whether Bo existed and believed the state of the record as it stood after Cercy's preliminary hearing testimony could not be improved. While it might have been helpful to know if Bo existed and Cercy's testimony could be corroborated, Chaffee elected to go ahead without corroboration. Neither side objects to these findings concerning Chaffee's proffered justifications for conducting his investigation in the manner he did, and we adopt them.