Opinion ID: 1987342
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Investigate and Impeach Laura Asaro

Text: Williams argues that counsel was ineffective for not interviewing and calling two potential witnesses who would have testified that Asaro was a drug addict and prostitute who was framing Williams in order to receive a $10,000 reward that had been offered in the case. As the motion court correctly found, this testimony would have been cumulative to the evidence at trial because the record contained evidence of Asaro's drug addiction, prostitution, and that she might receive reward money for testifying at trial. Counsel will not be found ineffective for deciding not to introduce cumulative evidence. Skillicorn v. State, 22 S.W.3d 678, 683 (Mo. banc 2000). The motion court did not clearly err in denying an evidentiary hearing on this claim. Williams also alleges that counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and offer testimony from Asaro's mother. Williams alleges that Asaro's mother would have testified that Williams' car was inoperable in August 1998. The allegation that she knew that Williams' car was inoperable during the time the murder was committed is conclusory because it is based only upon the allegation that on several occasions in August 1998 she saw Asaro and Williams use public transit. This allegation does not establish that Williams' car was inoperable on the date of the murder and that Asaro was, therefore, lying when she testified that Williams gave her a ride on the day of the murder. The testimony also would have been cumulative because Williams' brother testified at trial that the car was inoperable. The motion court did not clearly err in denying an evidentiary hearing on this claim. Williams also alleges that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and call Asaro's mother to testify Asaro had given her coupons and that these coupons may have been obtained from the victim's purse. The motion court did not clearly err in denying this claim without a hearing. The allegation that Asaro gave her mother some coupons does not establish that they were, in fact, the same coupons that had been in the victim's purse. Absent a factual allegation that the coupons were obtained from Gayle, this allegation is conclusory and does not warrant an evidentiary hearing. Williams also alleged that Asaro's mother would have testified that she had not read any letters Williams sent to Asaro from jail. Williams argues that his testimony would have impeached Asaro's trial testimony that Williams had written a letter asking her not to tell about the U. City incident but that she did not have the letter because her mother had thrown it away. This claim does not warrant an evidentiary hearing because it would not have impeached Asaro. Asaro testified, consistent with her mother's alleged potential testimony, that she was the only person who had read Williams' letter. This testimony would not have provided Williams with a viable defense. The motion court did not clearly err in denying this claim without a hearing. Williams also alleges that counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate several of his family members who would have testified that Asaro had keys to his car and had access to the car trunk. Williams maintains that this testimony would have shown that Asaro was involved in the murders and was setting him up. However, there was trial testimony that Asaro had access to the car trunk after Williams was incarcerated. Asaro admitted at trial that she had accessed the car trunk to retrieve her clothing after Williams had been incarcerated. Williams' brother and cousin both testified that they saw Asaro use keys to access the car trunk after Williams was incarcerated. The motion court did not err in denying an evidentiary hearing on Williams' claims that counsel was ineffective for eliciting this cumulative testimony. Finally, Williams argues that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to test Asaro's blood, hair, and fibers in order to connect her to the crime scene. The allegations contain no specific facts, but instead rely upon speculative conclusions that if such testing was performed, it would show that Asaro was present at the crime scene. The motion court did not clearly err in finding that these allegations plead conclusions, not facts, and did not warrant an evidentiary hearing.