Opinion ID: 1201769
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ineffective Assistance for Failure to Renew Request to Admit Evidence of Confession by Defendant's Brother

Text: Defendant contends that his trial counsel should have renewed at the penalty phase his effort to admit the testimony of John Culver to the effect that Gregory Cudjo had confessed to the murder of Amelia P. He argues that in the penalty setting the trial court might have been persuaded to reconsider its earlier ruling excluding the evidence. Had the court admitted the evidence, it would have strengthened the lingering doubt penalty defense. We have previously concluded that Culver's testimony was erroneously excluded at the guilt phase, but that the error was not prejudicial. Because the same evidentiary rules govern admissibility of evidence at the guilt and penalty phases, we question whether defense counsel demonstrates incompetence by failing to press at the penalty phase for admission of evidence excluded at the guilt phase. But we need not decide whether reasonably competent counsel would have again sought admission of Culver's testimony. For the reasons already stated, we are persuaded that Culver's testimony was lacking in credibility and could not have affected the outcome at either the guilt or penalty phases of the trial.