Opinion ID: 6109557
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Failure to present evidence of lighting and distance

Text: Lastly, Mr. McFadden alleges defense counsel were ineffective in failing to present photographs the defense had taken of area lighting and distance measurements between where Eva reported she was standing and the location where the shooting occurred. Eva testified she hid in the bushes and saw Mr. McFadden shoot Leslie. Mr. Stevenson testified he saw Leslie walk down Naylor toward the murder scene, saw a man come up and argue with her, saw the man follow her around the corner, and then heard continued arguing and gunshots. Upon hearing the gunshots, Mr. Stevenson immediately went outside, ran toward Leslie's body, and called 911. The State also presented testimony from Eva regarding the lighting and distances around the crime scene. Defense counsel cross-examined both Eva and Mr. Stevenson about the lack of a street light on the side of Kienlen where Leslie's body was found, cross-examined Eva about whether she really could see the murder from the bushes, and brought out that Mr. Stevenson could not really see the body until a car drove up and shined its headlights on the area. Officer Hunnius, a crime scene investigator, took pictures of the scene the night of the murder and also made a diagram of the distance measurements. He testified the area was lit by four dusk-to-dawn street lamps that gave off more light than they appeared to give out in photographs,  that would have illuminated the area where Eva said she saw Mr. McFadden get out of the car, and that provided enough light for someone hiding in the bushes to see someone walking up Naylor. On cross-examination, defense counsel elicited testimony the streetlight on Naylor did not illuminate the area near Kienlen and the distance between where Eva hid and where Leslie was shot was approximately 150 to 200 feet. Mr. McFadden now argues his counsel should have introduced its own photographs and measurements to further undercut and impeach Eva's claim she could see the murder from the bushes. In support, at the postconviction hearing, Mr. McFadden presented deposition testimony of an investigator who took photographs of the area and concluded the lighting was bad and a witness could not have seen much. The motion court found this testimony not credible and of little value because it was taken 10 years after the murder, during the daytime. The investigator was also unable to testify the lighting and other aspects of the scene had not changed. The testimony had little, if any, probative value. Defense counsel also testified at the postconviction hearing that they considered presenting their own photographic evidence but determined it would not be helpful. When the defense team visited the scene with investigators during the day, they found it possible Eva could have seen the murder from her location behind the bushes. The investigator who visited at night did not report that Eva would have had trouble seeing the shooting. Further, none of this evidence would have impeached Eva's statement that she recognized Mr. McFadden's voice when he was yelling at Leslie just before the shooting. Defense counsel, therefore, chose to cast doubt on Eva's ability to see the murder scene by cross-examining her and the State's other witnesses regarding the lighting at the murder scene and the distance from the bushes to the murder scene. [S]trategic choices made after thorough investigation of law and facts relevant to plausible opinions are virtually unchallengeable. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 . The motion court did not clearly err in determining it was a reasonable strategy. McLaughlin, 378 S.W.3d at 337 .