Opinion ID: 440199
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: testimony of patricia johnson

Text: 56 At Smith's trial, the state introduced the testimony of Patricia Johnson, Wesley Johnson's wife. (Wesley Johnson was the prosecutor's essential witness. See supra Sec. I.) The prosecutor called Patricia Johnson to testify concerning prior consistent statements made by her husband in response to Smith's impeachment. The witness list submitted to Smith before trial by the prosecutor did not include Patricia Johnson's name, as Florida law requires. In addition, the record shows that Patricia Johnson was present during a portion of the trial that preceded her testimony and was thus in violation of the sequestration rule. Smith argues that the omission of Patricia Johnson's name from the witness list and the sequestration rule violation compels the issuance of the writ. Smith, however, cites no authority to the effect that these violations are of constitutional dimension. See, e.g., Bronstein v. Wainwright, 646 F.2d 1048 (5th Cir.1981) (state law violations do not usually warrant habeas relief). Assuming that the claim is simply one rooted in the concept of fundamental fairness, see Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 40 L.Ed.2d 431 (1974), we conclude that these violations (if they were violations) 13 did not render Smith's trial fundamentally unfair.