Opinion ID: 2382114
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Counsel Failed To Perform Adequate Investigation

Text: All of the information that was not presented at trial, but was presented at the Rule 29.15 motion hearing, was readily available to defense counsel if he had conducted a proper investigation. It was available from police reports or witness lists provided by Butler and his family. For example, an investigation of Robert Hanson's statements to police the morning after the murder would have alerted counsel to Malloy's suspicious activities. A pursuit of those leads and a proper investigation of Malloy inevitably would have lead to an interview of Lopez. The investigation report of Detective John Fraise reflects the following statements by Mr. Hanson: Mr. Hanson states the victim and her husband were very much in love and got along well during their marriage. He states he does not know of anyone who would want to harm the victim. He was asked if he knew the victim to wear jewelry of any kind and he stated she had two or three diamond rings that had been given to her by his other sister, Cynthia. He states these rings were given to the victim recently because Cynthia's son, Sean Malloy, had a drug problem and was stealing from Jackie Hanson's House [Jackie is the mother of Cynthia, Diana, and Robert with whom Cynthia resided]. He states Malloy had stolen a VCR and anything he could get money for. He states that Malloy has since gotten over his drug problem and is working but he does not know where. Mr. Hanson stated Cynthia and Sean live with his mother at 5122 Yecker. Mr. Hanson stated he does not suspect the victim's husband in any way. He related that Mr. Butler had money problems when he and the victim first married, but the victim took care of straightening out his bills. He stated he does not know the cause of these money problems but believed that it was bad management. Defense counsel's investigator, Jack Albreckt acknowledged that he did not interview any witnesses. He recognized the need to investigate and tried, to no avail, to light a fire under defense counsel. Unfortunately, Butler's defense counsel was hospitalized for a period shortly before Butler's trial and died in February 1992, only a few months after Butler's sentencing. While this may explain defense counsel's inactivity, it does not alleviate the prejudice to Butler's defense. Defense counsel's efforts to investigate the facts of this case were perfunctory, at best. There is no reasonable professional judgment that would support trial counsel's failure to investigate and interview key witnesses such as William Smith, the witness who discovered the victim's body and reported it to the police, Robert Hanson, the victim's brother, who made the statement to Detective Fraise implicating Malloy in his sister's death, Paul Hix who was the only witness who placed a Ruger .22 caliber pistol in Butler's possession at any time near the date of the murder, or Richard Booth who tested Diana and Jim Butler's clothing for physical evidence. Moreover, the Lopezes necessarily would have been interviewed if trial counsel had questioned Robert Hanson and properly followed up on his statements concerning Malloy. The testimony of William Smith and the Lopezes directly connected Malloy to the crime. If defense counsel had obtained this direct connection evidence and presented it to the trial court, an abundance of other evidence showing Malloy had motive and opportunity to commit the crime would have been admissible. Schaal, 806 S.W.2d at 669; State v. Easley, 662 S.W.2d 248, 251-52 (Mo. banc 1983); State v. Umfrees, 433 S.W.2d 284 (Mo. banc 1968). Moreover, evidence not obtained or presented by trial counsel, but brought out at the post-conviction hearing, indicated that Malloy had motive and opportunity to commit the crime. Evidence indicated he had a strong motive because he was under pressure to pay past-due drug debts and sources of his drug money had been recently cut off. Malloy had opportunity to commit the murder. He left work sometime in the afternoon on May 5, 1990. If Malloy had a solid alibi, his false statement to police that he worked from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Malloy's call to Lopez reminding him that he worked that day would have been unnecessary. Finally, a proper investigation of this case would have brought out substantial weaknesses in the prosecution's case that defense counsel never even attempted to investigate or pursue. Hix's testimony that he saw a Ruger .22 caliber pistol in Butler's Car in the fall of 1989 could have been properly challenged with information drawn from an adequate investigation. Richard Booth's exculpatory testimony concerning the lack of any physical evidence on the victim connecting Butler to the murder would have been obtained and presented at trial. Defense counsel did not know enough about this evidence to make a reasoned decision not to use it. See Henderson, 926 F.2d at 712. Butler has shown that counsel's performance did not conform to the degree of skill, care, and diligence of a reasonably competent attorney.... Storey, 901 S.W.2d at 900. Defense counsel's failure to investigate was not reasonable under prevailing professional norms. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. at 2065.