Opinion ID: 2786325
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Additional Evidence of Impairment at Trial

Text: The District Court also rejected Clayton’s claim that his trial counsel should have introduced voluminous records from his extended hospital stay after his injury. “The records Clayton now complains about would have complicated [the simple] picture [that counsel wanted to present] and shown the jury that Clayton was also a violent man with a criminal record even before the accident occurred.” Clayton III, 2006 WL 1128803, at  (quoting Clayton II, 63 S.W.3d at 208). Similarly, the District Court agreed with this Court’s decision that Clayton’s counsel was not ineffective for electing not to present a witness who, on cross-examination, would have had to admit “that Clayton had a violent temper even before his accident, undercutting Clayton’s diminished capacity defense.” Id. at  (quoting Clayton II, 63 S.W.3d at 209).