Opinion ID: 1103987
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Meaningful and Consistent Theme of Defense.

Text: ¶ 53. Bell argues that the trial counsel presented conflicting defenses. Trial counsel argued that Bell was in Memphis and not in the store at the time of the murder. Bell maintains that counsel failed to have a consistent notion of what the defense theory should be, and that this failure supports the cumulative error. Specifically, he cites defense's closing argument. The Court finds this claim without merit. ¶ 54. Bell cites the following cases: McFadden v. United States, 614 A.2d 11 (D.C.1992) (court failed to conduct a pre-trial inquiry regarding counsel's effectiveness, after counsel admitted his lack of preparation); People v. Hattery, 109 Ill.2d 449, 94 Ill.Dec. 514, 488 N.E.2d 513 (1985) (by conceding defendant's guilt, counsel failed to subject prosecution's case to meaningful adversarial testing). We find that counsel's conduct in the instant case does not rise to level of the failures discussed in the cases cited. ¶ 55. Any alleged conflicting defenses resulted from the substantial evidence of Bell's guilt. As for the closing argument, trial counsel emphasized the burden of proof, attempted to raise reasonable doubt and attacked the credibility of witnesses. Accordingly, the closing argument was both consistent and effective. See Yarborough v. Gentry, 540 U.S. 1, 124 S.Ct. 1, 157 L.Ed.2d 1 (2003).