Opinion ID: 170999
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Impeachment of Jailhouse Confession

Text: Mr. DeLozier contends that Perrine did not perform adequately in impeaching Mussett's testimony that during an argument in the county jail Mr. DeLozier had boasted about committing two murders. Mussett, who had been an inmate trustee at the jail, testified that he had heard Mr. DeLozier yell to another inmate, Rodney Broades, I've already killed two men, mother fucker; I won't hesitate to kill you. R. Vol. 9 at 726. He reported the event to officials the following day. On cross-examination Mussett said that when the statement was made, he was standing at the pivot point of the jail's L-shaped hallway and could see both Mr. DeLozier and Broades. He testified that Mr. DeLozier's face was visible in the opening in the cell door known as the bean hole, but he admitted that he could not have seen into Mr. DeLozier's cell. Perrine also elicited from Mussett that he did not know Mr. DeLozier at the time and wouldn't know his voice from Adam. Id. at 730. In addition, Mussett admitted that he had known the victims all his life and knew when he was sent to jail that the people accused of killing them would be there. When asked whether he felt that he was helping the Morgans and Bullards by testifying, he said that he did not know. After Mussett's testimony, Perrine requested that the jury be permitted to visit the jail, saying, I went down there at lunch time and looked and ... [t]here's no way; you can't get enough of your face in that bean hole to identify who it is. Id. at 770. The judge, however, denied the request. Mr. DeLozier argues that Perrine should have done more to undermine Mussett's testimony. First, he contends that Perrine should have called Broades and other witnesses to testify that Mr. DeLozier had never made the alleged statement. In support of this claim Mr. DeLozier points to testimony by Broades and Loving (one of Mr. DeLozier's cellmates) at the evidentiary hearing on remand from the OCCA, in which both said that Mr. DeLozier had not made the statement. Broades testified at the hearing that Mr. DeLozier had neither threatened to kill him nor admitted to having committed two murders, and he claimed that the statements in the OSBI report [were]n't nowhere in the range of what was said. R. Vol. 12 at 83. Loving testified at the hearing: I never heard Mr. DeLozier say he'd kill anyone. Or had killed anyone. Id. at 105. Next, Mr. DeLozier contends that Perrine should have offered evidence, such as testimony explaining  and pictures, sketches, and drawings showing  that from the pivot point Mussett could not have seen Mr. DeLozier's face in the bean hole. Loving testified at the evidentiary hearing that a cellblock door, if open, would have prevented Mussett from seeing a face in the bean hole. And Ruth Castillo, a defense investigator, testified, and offered a photograph as proof, that Mussett could not have seen from the pivot point a face in the bean hole. Mr. DeLozier argues that Perrine's failure to present this evidence constitutes deficient performance. We disagree. Perrine's investigation and strategy regarding Mussett's testimony was reasonable. Before trial Perrine had been given a copy of Broades's statement to the OSBI just days after the incident, in which he reported that Mr. DeLozier had said: `You mother-fucker, I've killed two people before. What makes you think I'm afraid to kill a Nigger?' and `If they were Niggers, [I] would have plead guilty to killing them.' R. Vol. 4 at 438. Even if Broades had testified to the contrary at trial, the prosecutor would certainly have offered his prior statement to impeach him. Moreover, in light of Broades's statement, Perrine could reasonably have considered it unproductive to look for inmates who may have supported Mr. DeLozier's defense. Perrine therefore chose a path that would not emphasize the statement while attacking Mussett's credibility on cross-examination. To this end he questioned Mussett's motive for testifying, highlighting Mussett's relationship with the victims' families and the possible benefits that his cooperation could have had on his treatment in jail. Perrine also investigated the physical layout of the jail, both before trial and after the trial had begun, and elicited from Mussett that one could not see into Mr. DeLozier's cell from the pivot point, and that Mussett could not have identified Mr. DeLozier's voice. Although Perrine might have called a witness to testify to the difficulty of seeing a face in the bean hole from the pivot point, such testimony could easily have degenerated into a swearing match that would not advance the defense while emphasizing the importance of Mr. DeLozier's statement. In retrospect, Perrine's strategy was prescient. At the evidentiary hearing both Broades and Loving proved to be less-than-helpful witnesses, despite their initially favorable testimony, on which Mr. DeLozier now relies. Both had significant criminal records. Broades admitted that he and Mr. DeLozier had argued and that during the course of the argument Mr. DeLozier had said, [I]f it would have been black people [they're] saying that I killed, I would have said I done it and pleaded guilty to it. R. Vol. 12 at 96. And an OSBI agent later testified at the hearing that his report had quoted verbatim Broades's account of what Mr. DeLozier had said. As for Loving, he testified in response to a question from the trial judge that he had heard Mr. DeLozier tell Broades that he would kill his black ass, id. at 115, and, If I would have killed anybody it would have been a nigger ..., id. at 117. Likewise, the additional evidence regarding the (lack of) visibility of a face in the bean hole would have been of limited benefit. Loving did testify that the cellblock door, if open, would have blocked the view of the bean hole from the pivot point; but he never discussed what the visibility would have been if the door had been closed. Moreover, Sheriff McPeak testified at the hearing that on several occasions he had identified faces in the bean hole from the pivot point, and the photograph offered by Castillo corroborated that testimony. Addressing the contention that Perrine was ineffective for failing to call Broades as a witness and failing to present evidence that Mussett could not have seen Mr. DeLozier's face, the OCCA ruled that counsel's failure to utilize all possible evidence did not alter the outcome of this trial. DeLozier, 991 P.2d at 34. This ruling was neither contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law. Finally, Mr. DeLozier requests a new evidentiary hearing, alleging that his Constitutional Due Process rights were violated when he did not get a full and fair evidentiary hearing in the state court before a judge with no actual bias against the defendant or interest in the outcome of his particular case. Aplt. Br. at 39. When, as here, the habeas applicant made the showing necessary to obtain an evidentiary hearing in state court, that hearing must be a fair one. See Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 312, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963) ([T]he federal court in habeas corpus must hold an evidentiary hearing if the habeas applicant did not receive a full and fair evidentiary hearing in a state court.), overruled on other grounds Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes, 504 U.S. 1, 5-6, 112 S.Ct. 1715, 118 L.Ed.2d 318 (1992). Mr. DeLozier contends that the judge's campaign promise to put people in jail, the public opinion of the crime, and the judge's predisposition regarding counsel's performance rendered the hearing fundamentally unfair. The district court, however, rejected Mr. DeLozier's claim that the state-court evidentiary hearing was neither full nor fair: The trial judge is in the best position to evaluate counsel's conduct during a trial. To expect that a trial judge would not have some preconceived notions about the conduct he has observed first hand in his courtroom would be absurd. This Court's view of the record does not support [Mr. DeLozier's] assertion that he did not receive a fair evidentiary hearing below. Aplt. Br., Attach. 2 at 24 n. 4. Even if the trial judge's evaluation of the evidence at the hearing could be questioned on the ground of bias, Mr. DeLozier points to no errors in the presentation of evidence. Given that evidence, the trial judge's evaluation was eminently reasonable, an evaluation that has commended itself to every later court to address the issue, including this one. Mr. DeLozier has failed to establish that the evidentiary hearing conducted in state court was not full or fair. We affirm the district court's denial of his request for a new evidentiary hearing.