Opinion ID: 2188128
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Visibility

Text: As for the claim that it was ineffective assistance to fail to object to any restraint, a major battleground in Wrinkles's first post-conviction proceeding was whether the restraint was perceived by the jury. The State contended it was not perceived and therefore there was no prejudice from failure to object to its use. The post-conviction court found that the belt was not visible. The post-conviction court rejected the affidavits of three jurors who stated they were aware of the belt on the ground that 1) they were inconsistent with each other; 2) they were inconsistent with the testimony of the trial court bailiff; 3) defense counsel testified that the belt was not visible; and 4) the affidavits were not subjected to cross-examination. After the post-conviction court denied relief, affidavits from four more jurors were submitted in support of Wrinkles's petition for rehearing, but they were excluded as cumulative. In Wrinkles II we observed that it appeared that trial counsels' assumption that the jury was unaware of the belt was obviously incorrect. Wrinkles II, 749 N.E.2d at 1195. In federal habeas proceedings, the jurors' awareness of the belt became the focus of debate. The district court denied habeas, citing the post-conviction court's finding that no juror was aware of the belt. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, noting that this passage from our opinion in Wrinkles II could be taken as a determination that some jurors had in fact seen the belt, but ultimately concluding that this Court had not made such a finding. Wrinkles v. Buss, 537 F.3d 804, 818-23 (7th Cir.2008). The Seventh Circuit was correct that we made no such assumption or finding. In my view, our rejection of Wrinkles's claim of inadequate assistance of counsel for failure to object to restraints was based on our conclusion that the belt would have been in place with or without an objection by Wrinkles's counsel, not on the belt's visibility vel non. We did not hinge our opinion on the post-conviction court's finding that jurors were unaware of the belt, nor did we address Wrinkles's claims that the post-conviction court erred in discrediting the post-trial affidavits of three jurors stating that they were aware of the belt and in refusing to accept affidavits to the same effect from four others.