Opinion ID: 583985
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: analysis

Text: 16 On appeal, both defendants argue that there is insufficient evidence to sustain the convictions. In addition, Mr. Kamel, but not Mr. Khabbas, raises two grounds for a new trial in the event that the convictions are not set aside. First, Mr. Kamel asserts that the district court erred in not granting a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence. Second, Mr. Kamel asserts that he was denied adequate representation of counsel at his trial.
17 The defendants' principal assertion is that the evidence presented by the government was purely circumstantial, and that it was insufficient to allow a jury to conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they were responsible for the crimes of which they were convicted. 3 The defendants concede that the fire was deliberately set. They assert, however, that it was started by other, unknown individuals. At the trial, the defendants offered evidence about the deteriorated and vandalized condition of the building and the ease with which other persons had access to it. Testimony was also offered that other, unrelated fires had occurred in the building both before and after December 19, 1988. At their trial, they also offered an alibi defense, in which two witnesses testified that both defendants were far removed from the store at the time the fire began. Furthermore, the defendants argue that the government proffered no testimonial evidence directly connecting the defendants to the fire, such as evidence locating the defendants at the scene of the fire at the very moment it occurred or indicating that they had purchased the inflammables used to start the fire. Nor did the government offer physical evidence, such as incendiary devices in the defendants' possession, clothes with traces of inflammables, or the like. 18 The defendants recognize that the crime of arson, like most other crimes, may be proved by the use of circumstantial evidence. 4 They argue, however, that there was not enough evidence in this case to uphold their convictions. In support of this argument, they point to two decisions by this court--United States v. Arvanitis, 902 F.2d 489 (7th Cir.1990), and United States v. Lundy, 809 F.2d 392 (7th Cir.1987)--in which this court affirmed convictions. They then suggest that there was far more evidence of arson in those cases than in this case, and that those cases establish some sort of baseline of sufficient evidence. 5 However, different kinds and amounts of proof could be identified in every different case. We conclude that here the evidence the government offered was clearly sufficient to support both Mr. Kamel's and Mr. Khabbas' conviction. If the classic characteristics of a crime are motive and opportunity, both were present in ample amounts. 19 As far as motive is concerned, the evidence indicated that the business was marginally profitable at best. In spite of this difficulty, Mr. Kamel initially obtained insurance on the premises in excess of the value of the contents; he increased that insurance coverage once, and then took some preliminary steps to increase it yet a second time. In the months before the fire occurred, both defendants acted to find alternate premises for their store, and then shortly before the fire, both defendants removed inventory from the store. These facts certainly support the conclusion that the defendants intended to set a fire and to claim more serious damage than in fact occurred, to reap financial benefits from insurance coverage. 20 Several witnesses placed Mr. Khabbas in and near the store shortly before the time that the fire began. 6 The government did not need to offer a photograph of Mr. Khabbas, match in one hand and gasoline can in the other, standing at the door of the store, in order to prove that he indeed was the person who started the fire. Although Mr. Kamel was not physically present at the store at the crucial moment that the fire started, the evidence certainly justified the conclusion that he knew of his brother's intent to ignite the fire and, more importantly, that he was an active participant in the plan. The evidence indicated that Mr. Kamel was responsible for increasing the amount of insurance coverage; he participated in removing inventory from the store; he made arrangements for obtaining new premises for the business; and he dealt with the representatives of the insurance carrier to process the claim for the proceeds. 21 The defendants sought to offer an alternative explanation for their conduct. The defendants' attempt to undermine the government's witnesses, and to offer their own version of the events in question, is seriously undercut by the evidence of the many inconsistent and untruthful statements that they gave to Police Officer Hafford, to Special Agent Bilik, to Mr. Heytow and to Mr. Disalvo, and by Mr. Kamel's efforts to suborn perjury by Mr. Scaife before the grand jury. 22 At trial, the defendants mounted an alibi defense. They chose not to testify in their own behalf. Instead, the defendants offered eight witnesses to respond to the government's case, including two who testified about Mr. Kamel's and Mr. Khabbas' whereabouts on the night of December 19. However, in addition to its affirmative proof, the government offered substantial evidence to contradict this defense. Although the jury might have chosen to believe the defendants' witnesses, it was certainly within its province to weigh that testimony against the bulk of evidence connecting the defendants with the fire and to disbelieve the alibis that were offered. 23 In weighing a challenge on appeal to the sufficiency of the evidence used by a jury to convict a defendant, this court applies a highly deferential standard. We have recently restated the standard we apply in reviewing challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting jury verdicts: 24 A defendant challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction faces a formidable burden as we must affirm as long as any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In making this determination we look to all of the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences from that evidence in the light most favorable to the government. We must affirm unless the record is barren of any evidence, regardless of weight, from which the trier of fact could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 25 United States v. Jackson, 935 F.2d 832, 840, 843 (7th Cir.1991) (quoting United States v. Atterson, 926 F.2d 649, 655 (7th Cir.) (citations omitted), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2909, 115 L.Ed.2d 1072 (1991)). 26 In order for us to affirm, it is not necessary to determine that we too would have reached the same conclusions based on the evidence before us as did the jury. It was the jury's role to evaluate the testimony of all the witnesses and to weigh all the evidence before it. We conclude that there was far more than enough evidence to justify the jury's determination of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
27 Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that [t]he court on motion of a defendant may grant a new trial to that defendant if required in the interests of justice. Probably the most frequent basis for that motion--and the only one specifically mentioned in the rule--is one based on the ground of newly discovered evidence. Mr. Kamel asserts that, after the trial was over, he learned, through his brother's confession, that Mr. Khabbas and Mr. Samad accepted full responsibility for the fire and were prepared to exonerate him. He argues that this evidence should form the basis for setting aside his conviction and affording him a new trial. 28 Because of the importance accorded to considerations of repose, regularity of decision-making and conservation of scarce judicial resources, courts exercise great caution in setting aside a verdict reached after fully-conducted proceedings; 7 this is particularly appropriate when, as here, the action has been tried before a jury. 8 Furthermore, because of the greater familiarity that the trial court has with the conduct of the proceedings, appellate courts are additionally wary of second-guessing the judge and jury. In a long line of cases, this court has made clear that a defendant relying on this ground must make a multi-stage showing to justify the grant of the motion: 29 The defendant must demonstrate that the evidence (1) came to their [sic] knowledge only after trial; (2) could not have been discovered sooner had due diligence been exercised; (3) is material and not merely impeaching or cumulative; and (4) would probably lead to an acquittal in the event of a retrial. 30 Jarrett v. United States, 822 F.2d 1438, 1445 (7th Cir.1987). 9 31 In addition to requiring this showing, this court has also held that the decision to grant or deny a new trial under Rule 33 is a matter of discretion for the trial court. That determination will be disturbed on appeal only if the district court abused its discretion. See, e.g., United States v. Mazzanti, 925 F.2d 1026, 1030 n. 5 (7th Cir.1991); United States v. Kuzniar, 881 F.2d 466, 470 (7th Cir.1989); Goodwin, 770 F.2d at 639; Nero, 733 F.2d at 1202. In this case, we find that the requirements for granting a new trial were not satisfied. Therefore, we conclude that the district court clearly did not abuse its discretion in denying Mr. Kamel's motion. 32 As a preliminary matter, the nature of the actual evidence that supposedly would be proffered by Mr. Kamel if his motion were granted is unclear. This itself could prove a fatal obstacle for Mr. Kamel's motion, since the fourth requirement identified in Jarrett--the likelihood of acquittal based on the new evidence--presupposes, of course, that the proffered new 'evidence' would be admissible at the new trial. United States v. Parker, 903 F.2d 91, 102-03 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 196, 112 L.Ed.2d 158 (1990). 10 There is no affidavit in the record from Mr. Khabbas of his confession, nor even a suggestion that he intends to testify. 11 For understandable reasons, the other alleged participant in the burning down of the store--Mr. Samad--has not come forward, and it is unlikely that he will do so. Therefore, the government argues, there is no admissible new evidence for the court to consider. 33 Prior to the hearing held on February 28, 1991, 12 the only document offered to the district court in support of Mr. Kamel's motion for a new trial was a statement signed only by his counsel, Mr. Kenneth Cunniff, which described two conversations--one between Mr. Khabbas' wife, Balquis Khabbas, and Mr. Samad, and the other between Mr. and Mrs. Khabbas. In these two conversations, Mr. Samad and Mr. Khabbas allegedly admitted their involvement in the crime to Mrs. Khabbas. As a step in this extended hearsay, Mrs. Khabbas then allegedly relayed the subject of these conversations to Mr. Kamel. Subsequently, Mr. Kamel filed his own affidavit, reciting some of the details of what Balquis Khabbas told him. Mrs. Khabbas also furnished a brief affidavit, simply concurring in the substance of Mr. Kamel's affidavit. 34 Even if Mr. Kamel were granted a new trial, it is doubtful that these statements would be admissible in evidence to support Mr. Khabbas' and Mr. Samad's alleged confessions and their supposed exoneration of Mr. Kamel. 13 However, here it is unneccessary to resolve this issue, since we conclude in any event that the district court acted properly in denying the motion for a new trial. At best, Mr. Kamel can meet only the third of the four criteria set forth in Jarrett. We now turn to these four requirements for a new trial. 35
36 Mr. Kamel asserts that he did not learn of his brother's complicity in the fire until after the trial was over. 14 Although the record cannot (and we believe need not) confirm that he was absolutely certain of what Mr. Khabbas had done even before the trial started, there is very strong evidence which allowed the district court to conclude that, by the date of the trial, Mr. Kamel had actual knowledge of his brother's responsibility for starting the fire at the store. 15 37 In connection with his motion for a new trial, Mr. Kamel signed a waiver of his attorney-client privilege on January 24, 1990, allowing his trial counsel, Paul Wagner, to discuss with representatives of the government his pre-trial conversations with Mr. Kamel. Mr. Wagner then furnished an affidavit to the court, describing his discussions with Mr. Kamel. Mr. Wagner related that on September 30, 1990--the day before the beginning of the trial--Mr. Kamel revealed the truth of Mr. Khabbas' responsibility for setting the fire. 16 Mr. Wagner further related that he then asked Mr. Kamel directly which version of the facts was true--the earlier one, or the new one implicating his brother. Mr. Wagner stated that Kamel eventually backed off this new version of events, and he did not mention it to me again. 17 38 Further evidence of Mr. Kamel's knowledge of Mr. Khabbas' responsibility is found in an affidavit given by Special Agent Bilik. Describing an interview she had with Mr. Kamel on January 24, 1991, she related that when he arrived at the scene of the fire, Mr. Kamel saw his brother already there and was told by him, in Arabic, to state to the police officer that Mr. Khabbas had been at home at the time the fire broke out. Although he knew that statement was false, Mr. Kamel then told this lie to the police. 18 Despite these facts, Mr. Kamel would ask us to believe not only that he did not know back in December of 1988 of his brother's plan to burn down the store, but also that after being asked to cover up for his brother to the police, he did not ask Mr. Khabbas any further questions in the nearly two years between the date of the fire and the start of the trial. 39 Mr. Kamel's assertions that he merely had suspicions of his brother's responsibility for the fire, and that his actual knowledge of that fact is newly discovered, is contradicted by the evidence in the record. Therefore, we conclude that Mr. Kamel fails the first requirement for a new trial. 40
41 In order to satisfy the second prong of the test for the grant of a motion for a new trial, Mr. Kamel would have to show that he could not have discovered the relevant evidence despite the exercise of due diligence. See generally United States v. Lockhart, 956 F.2d 1418, 1426 (7th Cir.1992). Here, however, even if we accept Mr. Kamel's assertion that he did not truly know of Mr. Khabbas' or Mr. Samad's responsibility for the fire, the facts indicate that Mr. Kamel did nothing to confirm his suspicions of the true culprits or to ascertain the truth of the situation. 42 Mr. Kamel knew that his brother was at the store shortly before the fire, and he knew that his brother had asked him to lie to the police about his whereabouts. Yet, Mr. Kamel would have us believe that he never sought to learn if his brother had started the fire. 19 Mr. Kamel also knew that Mr. Samad would receive insurance benefits from a fire at the store, and therefore had a motive for arson. Yet, Mr. Kamel apparently never sought to investigate this possibility, until, on the very morning of the first day of the trial, he suggested to his attorney, Mr. Wagner, that he wanted Mr. Samad as a witness and that, because Mr. Samad was out of the country, they should seek a continuance in the trial. 20 43 If there is possible evidence which would exonerate a defendant, he may not simply ignore it, awaiting the outcome of the trial and having the opportunity of using that evidence later for a second chance for acquittal. See United States v. Streich, 759 F.2d 579, 587 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 860, 106 S.Ct. 172, 88 L.Ed.2d 142 (1985); see also United States v. Boschetti, 794 F.2d 416, 419-20 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 889, 107 S.Ct. 289, 93 L.Ed.2d 263 (1986). Mr. Kamel undertook little or no effort, prior to his trial, to obtain the evidence that he now seeks to offer in his defense. In the absence of such steps, we conclude that Mr. Kamel has not shown the requisite due diligence to justify the granting of his motion for a new trial. 21
44 A new trial will not be granted if the evidence offered is merely impeaching or cumulative; it must be material. 22 Even the statement by Mr. Khabbas that he actually set the fire would not overcome the substantial evidence of Mr. Kamel's involvement in the arson and insurance fraud for which he was convicted--including changing the amount of insurance coverage, emptying the store of its inventory, and making arrangements for a lease on another store location, and then covering up all these facts as well as the many facts pointing to his brother's responsibility for the fire. However, we recognize that Mr. Khabbas' and Mr. Samad's version of the facts--and particularly a statement expressly exonerating Mr. Kamel--would be relevant and material, rather than merely peripheral to an understanding of the crime. 23 Mr. Khabbas' confession, coupled with the purported statement of his brother's ignorance of the starting of the blaze, might have diminished Mr. Kamel's culpability in the eyes of the jury--if it were believed, a matter to which we turn next.
45 A new trial will be granted only if the newly discovered evidence would probably lead to an acquittal in the event of a retrial. United States v. Taglia, 922 F.2d at 415-16; United States v. Leibowitz, 919 F.2d 482 (7th Cir.1990), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1428, 113 L.Ed.2d 480 (1991). Here, however, it is highly improbable that, in the face of the substantial evidence of Mr. Kamel's guilt, the purported confessions would be believed by a second jury. 46 The communications that both of the defendants have had with government officials and private investigators since the date of the fire have been riddled with outright lies. 24 Mr. Kamel suborned perjury by Mr. Scaife before the grand jury. At the trial, Mr. Khabbas offered two alibi witnesses who testified that he was at his home when the fire started, although he apparently has now admitted that he was at the store, setting the fire, at that time. Naturally, much, if not all, of this evidence would be brought out if there were a second trial. At that second trial, Mr. Kamel would be relying for his exoneration on the hearsay report of a confession of a close relative who now stands as a convicted felon. 47 Both the timing and the nature of the alleged confessions--particularly that of Mr. Khabbas--make them of diminished reliability. Confessions given only after the confessor's conviction, and especially when proffered by relatives or friends, are engulfed in an aura of suspicion and doubt. United States v. Oliver, 683 F.2d 224, 229 (7th Cir.1982). 25 They are of limited probative value at a second trial, and hence are unlikely to lead to an acquittal. See United States v. Metz, 652 F.2d 478, 480-81 (5th Cir., Unit A 1981). [A]ttempts by one defendant to take full responsibility after trial and conviction are common and are viewed with skepticism. United States v. Benavente Gomez, 921 F.2d 378, 383 (1st Cir.1990); see also Pelegrina v. United States, 601 F.2d 18, 21 (1st Cir.1979). 48 Mr. Khabbas repeatedly and firmly denied any involvement in the crime for a period of three years. Mr. Khabbas' purported confession, coming after his conviction and shortly before sentencing, when he has relatively little to lose by accepting full responsibility for the fire, is far less credible. 26 It is likely that the jury would see the offer of the confession as nothing more than brotherly loyalty, with Mr. Khabbas taking full blame for a crime for which he, as well as his brother, has already been convicted. 27 In light of Mr. Khabbas' willingness to lie since 1988, one more lie--to try to get his brother off the hook--apparently would not make much difference to him. It boggles the mind to think that a second jury would be any less likely to convict Mr. Kamel of these crimes than was the first. Mr. Kamel's motion soundly fails the fourth requirement of Rule 33. 49 In sum, there are four requirements for the grant of a motion for a new trial, and the party seeking that new trial must satisfy all four. The grant of a new trial falls within the discretion of the trial court, and will be reversed on appeal only in very unusual circumstances. Here, Mr. Kamel has failed to satisfy at least three of the requirements. It is clear that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Mr. Kamel's motion.
50 Mr. Kamel asserts that, at his trial, he was deprived of his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel. 28 The necessary elements for a showing of that deprivation were identified by the Supreme Court in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984): 51 A convicted defendant's claim that counsel's assistance was so defective as to require reversal of a conviction ... has two components. First, the defendant must show that counsel's performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the counsel guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This requires showing that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable. Unless a defendant makes both showings, it cannot be said that the conviction ... resulted from a breakdown in the adversary process that renders the result unreliable. 29 52 For understandable reasons, [t]he defendant bears a heavy burden in establishing an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. United States v. Moya-Gomez, 860 F.2d 706, 763 (7th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 492 U.S. 908, 109 S.Ct. 3221, 106 L.Ed.2d 571 (1989). Indeed, we have described it as a high mountain a defendant must climb to demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel. United States v. Balzano, 916 F.2d 1273, 1292 (7th Cir.1990). Although we are cognizant of the importance of protecting this constitutional right, we also recognize that otherwise [c]riminal trials resolved unfavorably to the defendant would increasingly come to be followed by a second trial, this one on counsel's unsuccessful defense, Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. at 2066, and that many of these claims  'accomplish little other than the waste of judicial resources, and possibly reflect unfairly on trial counsel.'  Balzano, 916 F.2d at 1297 (quoting United States v. Olson, 846 F.2d 1103, 1111 (7th Cir.1988)). 30 Because of these concerns, the Supreme Court has cautioned that, [t]o counteract the natural tendency to fault an unsuccessful defense, a court reviewing a claim of ineffective assistance must 'indulge a strong presumption that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance.'  Nix v. Whiteside, 475 U.S. 157, 165, 106 S.Ct. 988, 993, 89 L.Ed.2d 123 (1986). 31 53 This court has imposed a requirement that, as an initial matter, the defendant must identify the specific acts or omissions of counsel that formed the basis for his claim of ineffective counsel. Moya-Gomez, 860 F.2d at 763-64; see also United States v. Jackson, 935 F.2d 832, 845 (7th Cir.1991). Here, it is not clear precisely what Mr. Kamel contends that Mr. Wagner did or did not do. In his brief in this court, Mr. Kamel's contention is limited to the following statement: Kamel specifically advised his attorney prior to trial 32 that he had information that would show that Khabbas and Samad were responsible for the fire.... Wagner did not ask for a new trial 33 or attempt to interview Samad about the connection between Khabbas and Samad. Appellants' Br. at 28. 54 Treating this assertion as the entirety of Mr. Kamel's objections to Mr. Wagner's performance, 34 we conclude that these alleged omissions completely fail to satisfy the two requirements in Strickland for showing ineffective assistance of counsel. 35 Therefore, we reject Mr. Kamel's request for a new trial on this ground.
55 Under Strickland, Mr. Kamel must show that his counsel's performance was deficient. Our review of the record, however, leads to precisely the opposite evaluation of Mr. Wagner's conduct of Mr. Kamel's defense. Any objections either to the nature or to the quality of the defense must be laid directly on the doorstep of the person responsible for those alleged deficiencies--the defendant himself. 36 56 Up until the date of the motion for a new trial, Mr. Kamel consistently denied any involvement on his or Mr. Khabbas' part in starting the fire. 37 Mr. Kamel fully and knowingly participated in the decision to adopt a joint alibi strategy at trial, rather than seeking to shift the responsibility to his brother and his brother-in-law, Mr. Samad. 38 Both Mr. Kamel and Mr. Khabbas consistently maintained that the fire might have been caused by vandals or squatters living above the store, and this was the theme of their defense. Mr. Kamel gave the names of a number of alibi witnesses to Mr. Wagner; he interviewed them, and they were called to testify in Mr. Kamel's behalf. The defendants would have been acquitted if the jury had believed their version of the facts. But, having chosen this route and seen its failure, Mr. Kamel cannot now be heard to complain that somehow his lawyer was at fault for not pursuing another trial strategy. 39 Since there is no ineffective assistance of counsel even where the attorney chooses one reasonable strategy to the exclusion of another, see United States v. Guerrero, 938 F.2d 725, 730 (7th Cir.1991); United States v. Adamo, 882 F.2d 1218, 1227-28 (7th Cir.1989), Mr. Kamel's after-the-fact complaint about Mr. Wagner's representation is even less availing when it was the defendant who chose to rely on an alibi defense. 57 Another reason for rejecting Mr. Kamel's assertion that his trial counsel's performance was subpar is that he is obviously trying to have it both ways. In order to sustain his burden under Rule 33, which required him to show that his brother's confession was newly discovered, Mr. Kamel asserted that he did not know of his brother's involvement in the fire prior to the trial, but merely had suspicions. 40 Here, however, he not only asserts that he conveyed that information to his attorney, but that somehow Mr. Wagner was derelict in not pursuing or acting upon that possibility. If Mr. Kamel could not ascertain the truth from his own brother in the almost two years between the date of the fire and the trial, it defies comprehension to see what Mr. Wagner, a stranger, was supposed to have learned from Mr. Khabbas in the less than twenty-four hours between Mr. Kamel's disclosure and the start of the trial. 58 Mr. Kamel also asserts that Mr. Wagner's representation was deficient in his not attempting to interview Mr. Samad. There are two defects with this argument. First, on the day that the trial began, which was when Mr. Kamel first shared this information with his attorney, Mr. Samad was in Israel, more than 6000 miles from Chicago. Obviously the interview would have been impossible. Equally important, as noted above, even had Mr. Samad been present, it is unlikely that he would have been willing to incriminate himself by testifying in Mr. Kamel's behalf. To this date, Mr. Samad has still not come forward with anything to support Mr. Kamel's position. 59 Because of Mr. Samad's unavailability, Mr. Kamel implies that Mr. Wagner acted improperly in not asking for a continuance. This overlooks the fact that Mr. Kamel obviously had no absolute right to postpone the start of the trial. Indeed, under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161 et seq., the government, in advancing the public interest, has an equal right with a defendant to obtain the prompt disposition of a criminal prosecution. 41 The determination of whether to grant or deny a continuance is vested within the sound discretion of the trial court. Morris v. Slappy, 461 U.S. 1, 103 S.Ct. 1610, 75 L.Ed.2d 610 (1983); 42 United States v. Rodgers, 755 F.2d 533, 539-40 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 473 U.S. 907, 105 S.Ct. 3532, 87 L.Ed.2d 656 (1985); United States v. Black, 684 F.2d 481, 485 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1043, 103 S.Ct. 463, 74 L.Ed.2d 613 (1982); United States v. Aviles, 623 F.2d 1192, 1196 (7th Cir.1980). 60 Given the fact that the trial was about to start, and the government had all its witnesses present and ready, Mr. Wagner no doubt correctly assessed the situation in declining Mr. Kamel's suggestion and not futilely seeking a continuance. 43 We also note that counsel does not render ineffective assistance by failing to pursue arguments that are clearly destined to prove unsuccessful ... or by strategically choosing to pursue his client's strongest arguments and to forego marginal ones. United States v. Lawson, 947 F.2d 849, 853 (7th Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1505, 117 L.Ed.2d 643 (1992). Therefore, we reject the assertion that Mr. Wagner's decision to proceed with the trial in Mr. Samad's absence rendered his performance deficient.
61 As noted above, the second prong of the Strickland test is that the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. The Supreme Court held that this means that [t]he defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068; see also Toro v. Fairman, 940 F.2d 1065, 1068-69 (7th Cir.1991), petition for cert. filed, (U.S. February 17, 1992) (No. 91-7351). 62 In United States ex rel. Cross v. DeRobertis, 811 F.2d 1008, 1013 (7th Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 122, 112 L.Ed.2d 91 (1990), we emphasized that these two components of the Strickland analysis cannot be treated as hermetically sealed containers, and that an inquiry with respect to one component will therefore often shed a valuable cross-light upon our inquiry with respect to the other. Because we conclude that Mr. Wagner's performance was not deficient, and because a successful showing of ineffective assistance of counsel requires satisfaction of both parts of the Strickland test, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064, there is no need to give detailed consideration to this second inquiry. However, our views of the high quality of Mr. Wagner's representation of Mr. Kamel 44 confirm that the defendant was not prejudiced by the defense chosen. Similarly, the nature of the government's case against Mr. Kamel suggests that the defense strategy chosen was a sound and reasonable professional decision. 63 As already noted, it would appear unlikely that Mr. Samad would have testified at all, so an interview with him, or a continuance to obtain his presence, would have been of little or no use. Furthermore, when the overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to Mr. Kamel's guilt is weighed against the value of Mr. Khabbas' alleged confession or evidence of his sole complicity, there is no reason to believe that the trial would have come out differently even if Mr. Wagner had taken the steps for which Mr. Kamel now argues. 45 In short, even if Mr. Wagner's performance was unprofessional--and we emphasize that it was not--we find that Mr. Kamel was simply not prejudiced by the legal representation he received. Thus, Mr. Kamel's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel fails the second part of the Strickland test as well.