Opinion ID: 2170066
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Failure of Petitioner to Testify.

Text: Petitioner testified at the postconviction hearing that he had wanted to testify in his own defense but was told by his attorney that he would not allow petitioner to testify because he would be torn to threads. He also said his attorney had not told him that he had a right to testify. Petitioner's trial counsel also testified at the postconviction hearing, but he presented an entirely different explanation of why petitioner did not take the stand. The attorney said that because petitioner had chosen to have a trial by jury, he urged petitioner to take the stand because he thought he had no effective choice but to testify. The attorney further stated that petitioner changed his mind about testifying several times before and during the course of the trial, then informed counsel at a recess during the presentation of his evidence that he did not want to testify. Counsel emphasized that petitioner did not take the witness stand because he told me he did not desire to do so. We find that trial counsel's testimony on this issue makes more sense and is more believable than petitioner's version of what occurred. Although we review constitutional issues de novo, we give weight to the trial court's findings on credibility of witnesses. Iowa R.App.P. 14(f)(7). The postconviction trial court found: Defense counsel advised petitioner that he had no choice but to take the stand after the State rested; but, he further cautioned him about the discrepancies in the statements petitioner had previously made. Petitioner vacillated between testifying and not testifying and decided not to testify. Credible evidence in the record fully supports those findings made by the postconviction trial court. We conclude that petitioner's trial attorney fulfilled his obligation to advise petitioner on this matter. He first conferred with petitioner on whether he should testify in his own defense and thereafter properly yielded to the informed choice that petitioner made. See Schrier v. State, 347 N.W.2d at 663-64. Petitioner has not shown that he was deprived of his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel at trial. He was adjudged guilty of first degree murder only after he had received a fundamentally fair trial. Consequently, the trial court properly denied petitioner's application for postconviction relief. AFFIRMED.