Opinion ID: 617145
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Counsel's failure to conduct a reasonable investigation

Text: Sowell first argues that his attorneys did not conduct a sufficient pretrial investigation because they failed to interview the state's witnesses. Again, we adopt the reasoning of the district court, which carefully disposed of this argument, relying in part on the fact that: [T]he record reflects that counsel filed for discovery and for a more definite bill of particulars, met with petitioner to discuss his options with respect to the trier of fact, and reviewed the grand jury testimony of at least four witnesses. During a pre-trial hearing, petitioner's counsel stated on the record that they had met with the prosecutor and reviewed the evidence and photographs. Counsel filed several pre-trial motions, including a motion to suppress the gun found in petitioner's apartment. Moreover, as the trial court noted, petitioner failed to present any evidence during his post-conviction proceedings suggesting that his counsel did not have copies of the witness statements to police. Sowell, 557 F.Supp.2d at 883 (citations omitted). Sowell cites the Seventh Circuit's holding in Stanley v. Bartley, 465 F.3d 810, 813 (7th Cir.2006), for the proposition that these activities were not enough. But unlike the defendant in Stanley, Sowell was not prejudiced by his attorneys' failure to interview the state's witnesses because he has shown no real way in which their testimony would indicate his innocence. In Stanley, the state's key witness, James Dean, who might well have been the murderer, testified that he was with Stanley on the night of the murder and that he saw Stanley shoot the victim in the back. Id. at 811. But other witnesseswho did not testify and whom defense counsel did not interviewtold the police that Dean and the victim had been involved in a violent quarrel hours before the shooting. Id. at 812. Here, Sowell admitted shooting Graham and Billups, and the only issue to be decided by the panel was whether Sowell had committed the acts with prior calculation and design. Sowell has presented no evidence that would undermine confidence in the panel's finding of prior calculation and design. Thus, no prejudice has been shown from counsel's performance in this regard.