Opinion ID: 77443
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mike [Smith] jumped on him.

Text: 41 Q. Okay, tell us what you saw. 42 A. Mike came out with his knife held high. 43 Q. And you say he came out, was there some place that he was inside? You say he came out. Was he in— 44 A. He jumped from the side of the house. 45 According to Renee, the two then fell to the ground, rolled around, and fought. Renee could not tell exactly what was occurring between Sullivan and Smith because they were too tightly wrapped. According to Renee, Smith had a knife while the two fought, but was hitting Sullivan with the hand holding the knife. Renee did not see Smith strike or cut Sullivan with his knife. Renee saw Sullivan with his own knife after a minute or two, although she did not see Sullivan pull it out. Renee watched for a few minutes, but Janice returned to the backyard and took her into the house. Renee then went to one of the bedrooms and watched the fight from a window, but she watched through the window only for a very short time because Janice retrieved her and locked them both in a bathroom. The next time Renee saw Sullivan, he was getting into his truck, and his shirt was covered in blood and had a hole in it. 46 Kirk testified that his memory was very sketchy, but he said he investigated the scene of the incident, spoke with the police officers assigned to the case, and interviewed just about everybody that was suggested to me to be a witness to that incident or possessed information about the deceased Michael Smith, and folks that knew Mr. Sullivan and Janice. Kirk could not remember many facts about the trial, such as whether Sullivan's daughters 4 testified; nor could he remember appearing or arguing at a motion for new trial, whether he interviewed Kitty's then-boyfriend David Hyatt, or what had happened to the majority of his case file. 47 In response to questioning about whether the defendant Sullivan ever told Kirk that Smith was the attacker, Kirk replied that he understood that Sullivan went to Kitty's home reasonably assured that he would find Smith there with Janice and that the defendant Sullivan did not tell him that Smith attacked. In describing Sullivan's account of the facts to Kirk, Kirk stated Sullivan went in the backyard for a very specific purpose, expecting to find Smith there, and [h]e was not attacked by Mr. Smith. Kirk testified that Sullivan's chief defense was heat of passion, and Kirk attempted to get the verdict reduced to manslaughter. No one ever came forward to say that Smith attacked Sullivan. Kirk also testified that he found nothing to indicate that Smith had a knife on that day. 48 Kirk testified that he had interviewed Janice and Kitty Sullivan and that, to his knowledge, there were no eyewitnesses other than Sullivan. Janice, Renee's mother, supplied a list of names of individuals who had information for the trial, but Renee was not on Janice's list. Janice did not describe anyone as an eyewitness. Kirk further testified that the evidence did not indicate that Renee saw anything, and moreover, Sullivan specifically told Kirk that Renee did not witness the fight. Kirk was surprised when Kitty testified that Renee was standing at the back door when Sullivan walked outside and at that point, he probably asked the defendant Sullivan at trial whether Renee was at the back door, and Sullivan probably answered in the negative, but Kirk could not remember. Kirk acknowledged that he had interviewed children in preparation for other cases, generally while their parents were present, but stated that he would not have taken it upon himself to interview Renee because he would not do that to a child. 49 Sullivan testified that he never barred Kirk from speaking with his children, and he asked Kirk to speak with Renee in the days preceding the trial. Sullivan stated that he asked Kirk approximately three to six times during trial to put Renee on the stand, but Kirk put him off. Sullivan did not think that Janice prevented Kirk from interviewing Renee. Sullivan stated that Kirk probably did not remember being told that he should interview Renee or have her testify because Sullivan said he did not press the matter with Kirk [o]ut of respect. 50 As to April 27, 1989, Sullivan testified in 2001 that Smith had a knife at the fight. However, Sullivan admitted that he did not tell Kirk about Smith's knife because he did not remember the details of the fight for approximately a year and a half after his conviction. Sullivan also did not tell Kirk that his memory was incomplete because he did not realize it at the time. On cross-examination, Sullivan clarified that Smith had jumped on him from the side towards his back, and Sullivan glimpsed Smith's knife. Sullivan stated that during the fight the two never stood up. Sullivan believed Smith dropped his knife because Sullivan did not see it again, but he was not sure what had happened to Smith's knife. Sullivan testified that he had a slight cut on his stomach, and he remembered wounding Smith in two places. M. Second R&R and Supplemental R&R 51 After further briefing by both parties, the magistrate judge issued a second report and recommendation (Second R&R), recommending that Sullivan's § 2254 petition be denied. The magistrate judge found that two statements were made at trial by the prosecutor and Kirk that no eyewitnesses existed, but Sullivan did not speak up at those times. Next, the magistrate judge determined that a reasonable attorney could have decided that he should not call Renee to testify under any circumstances. The magistrate judge noted that Renee had testified Smith had a knife but that the medical and testimonial evidence, including Sullivan's own account of the event at trial, contradicted Renee's testimony and vitiated the credibility of Renee's testimony. The magistrate judge thus found that based on the totality of the evidence, Kirk's actions were reasonable and not deficient performance. 52 The magistrate judge also noted that there was no evidence that Kirk's actions prejudiced Sullivan because there was no reasonable possibility, after comparing Renee's testimony to the remainder of the evidence, of a different outcome at the trial. The magistrate judge stated that there was no dispute in the evidence about whether Smith jumped Sullivan as he went into the backyard, and that fact did not ameliorate the consequences of Sullivan's drawing his knife when he and Smith broke apart during the fight. And as noted earlier, Renee's testimony that Smith was armed with a knife was contrary to all the physical evidence and even Smith's testimony at trial. That inconsistency, along with multiple inconsistencies between her testimony at ages 11 and 17, convinced the magistrate judge that there was no probability the jury would have credited her testimony. 53 After Sullivan filed objections to the Second R&R, the magistrate judge issued a supplemental report and recommendation (Supplemental R&R), finding, inter alia, that a portion of Sullivan's testimony indicated that he had told Kirk that Renee was an eyewitness, but Sullivan's admission that he did not press the point with Kirk border[ed] on the incredible. The magistrate judge further determined that Renee's testimony was so contrary to the evidence ... that there [was] no reasonable probability of a different outcome. N. District Court Order 54 After Sullivan objected to the magistrate judge's Supplemental R&R, the district court asked the parties to brief additional issues. Subsequently, the district court denied Sullivan's § 2254 petition, adopting the Second R&R and Supplemental R&R to the extent they found that Sullivan did not show the required prejudice. The district court found that the physical and medical evidence did not support Renee's version of events. The district court stressed that Sullivan himself [testified] that he never saw a knife, and certainly never testified that Smith attacked him with his `knife held high.' The district court thus determined, based on the inconsistencies between Renee's testimony that Smith first attacked Sullivan with a knife and the other evidence in the case that showed no knife was found on Smith, that Sullivan failed to establish prejudice under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). 55 However, the district court found that Sullivan did tell Kirk that Renee was an eyewitness to the fight because the magistrate judge did not expressly reject Sullivan's testimony on this point. Nevertheless, the district court chose not to rule on whether Kirk's performance was reasonable or deficient. 56 Sullivan filed a notice of appeal and applied for a certificate of appealability (COA), which the district court denied. This Court granted a COA on the issue of [w]hether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to interview Renee Sullivan, or to call her as a witness at trial?