Opinion ID: 162747
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Counsel's Failure to Cross Examine Mrs. Nguyen

Text: 102 Mr. Le notes the prosecution's reliance on Mrs. Nguyen as the only eye-witness to the events surrounding Mr. Nguyen's death. Mr. Le points out that his version of events conflicts in varying degrees with that of Mrs. Nguyen but that his trial counsel failed to cross-examine Mrs. Nguyen during the guilt phase of the trial. While Mr. Le admits that their testimony is in agreement on various issues— including the fact that Mr. Le intended to rob the Nguyens, that he was the initial aggressor that morning, that he was the person who went to the kitchen and grabbed the knives—there are a few relevant points of difference. In particular, Mr. Le points out that Mrs. Nguyen, at the preliminary hearing, suggested that her husband had held on to Mr. Le during the altercation and that she had retained control of the barbell during the duration of the fight. Mrs. Nguyen's testimony at trial conflicted with her earlier testimony on these two points. 103 Mr. Le suggests that the conflict should have been brought to the jurors' attention, as Mrs. Nguyen's initial testimony was far more supportive of [Mr.] Le's version of the fight ... Aplt's Br. at 51-52. Mr. Le argues that this information might have affected the trial in three ways. First, his counsel might have convinced the court to give the requested instruction on first degree manslaughter. Second, the court might have given an instruction on self-defense. And third, Mr. Le suggests that this conflict in Mrs. Nguyen's testimony would have exposed the altercation as a crime of passion, rather than as a premeditated, calculated effort to murder and rob the Nguyens. Mr. Le claims that there is no trial strategy that could justify his counsel's failure to impeach Mrs. Nguyen with her own prior testimony. 104 The Court of Criminal Appeals explained that raising these inconsistencies before the jury would not have had any of the proposed effects. As there was adequate evidence that Mr. Le remained the aggressor during the altercation, this inconsistency in Mrs. Nguyen's testimony would not have allowed for an instruction on self-defense. See Le I, 947 P.2d at 556-57. Further, regardless of the inconsistencies of Mrs. Nguyen's testimony, there was no evidence that adequate provocation existed to entitle Mr. Le to a manslaughter instruction. See id. Finally, Mrs. Nguyen's testimony at trial was supported by Mr. Le's confession, which means her conflicting testimony would not have been impeachable by Mr. Le at trial. For these reasons, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that trial counsel's decision not to argue with Mrs. Nguyen was a reasonable trial strategy and Mr. Le could not show prejudice, as required to succeed in a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. See id. at 557. In light of its persuasive reasoning, we hold that the Court of Criminal Appeals' analysis on this point was not an unreasonable application of federal law. 105