Opinion ID: 789998
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Strickland Prong Two: Prejudice

Text: 111 Having found that trial counsel's conduct fell short of prevailing professional norms, we turn to the second prong of the Strickland inquiry — put simply, whether Attorney Walton's conduct prejudiced Petitioner Howard. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. In order to satisfy this second prong, Howard must show a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine the confidence in the outcome. Id. If we find that Howard's counsel had not deprived him of any substantive or procedural right to which the law entitled him, ... his claim did not satisfy the prejudice component of the Strickland test. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 392-93, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000) (citing Lockhart v. Fretwell, 506 U.S. 364, 113 S.Ct. 838, 122 L.Ed.2d 180 (1993)). We find that Howard was not prejudiced. Having found that his counsel's performance did not prejudice him under the Strickland inquiry, we also find that Howard has failed to establish cause to excuse procedural default. 112 Howard cannot establish prejudice under Strickland, because he cannot show that a motion to exclude Chorney's and Carter's identifications would have succeeded. Nor can he show that counsel's error had a significant impact upon his finding of guilt. In order to establish that a motion to exclude the identifications would have succeeded, Howard must establish that his claim had merit. He must show both that the lineup procedure was unnecessarily suggestive and that, under the totality of the circumstances, the witnesses' identifications were not otherwise reliable. See Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 198, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972); Manson, 432 U.S. at 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243. This he cannot do. Simply described, the lineup procedure was only minimally suggestive. Neither Chorney nor Carter had significant opportunity to be influenced by their short exposure to Howard at the preliminary hearings. As important, their identifications were independently reliable of any suggestive lineup procedure. 113 As discussed above, we first assess whether the identification procedure used with Chorney and Carter was unnecessarily suggestive, then whether the identifications were nonetheless reliable. Manson, 432 U.S. at 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243. We begin with the suggestiveness inquiry. Chorney gave limited testimony regarding his ability to observe Howard during the first and second scheduled preliminary hearings. He testified that he had no contact with the case between the shooting and the September 20, 1989, scheduled preliminary hearing. While acknowledging that he came to the proceeding with his family, Chorney was never asked if he saw Howard being brought into the court room. He testified that he spent a lot of time in the hall and was out in one of the rooms smoking a cigarette. J.A. 243. Regarding the September 27, 1989, scheduled preliminary hearing that preceded the lineup, Chorney testified that he was not in the courtroom when Howard was brought in. He testified that as soon as he entered the courtroom, he was immediately asked to leave. At that point, Howard was seated at the defense counsel table and Chorney seen the back of him. J.A. 244. 114 The record presented with the petition is not clear regarding what, if any, contact witness Carter had with Howard at the time of the preliminary hearings. Carter had not seen Howard between the June shooting and the September court proceedings. Carter's total testimony regarding his observation of Howard at the September 20, 1989, hearing was: I seen him, the back of him sit down. J.A. 266. On September 27, 1989, Carter returned to court for the rescheduled preliminary hearing. Carter testified that on that date, he saw Howard being brought from the rear of the court room to the defense table. The preliminary hearing quickly adjourned to allow the lineup. Thomas Carter had only a limited opportunity to observe Howard at the time of the preliminary hearings. 115 Using the standard of unnecessary suggestiveness described earlier, we find that Howard fails to establish that the techniques associated with Chorney's and Carter's identifications were unnecessarily suggestive. Chorney and Carter observed Howard for only a very brief period. Nothing suggests they got a good look at his face during the September 20 and 27 hearings. Law enforcement officials made no statement to them. While observing a defendant in police custody has some suggestion that police had focused on Howard, we do not find the procedures associated with the identifications unnecessarily suggestive. 116 Moreover, Chorney's and Carter's identifications were independently reliable. As described above, in judging reliability, we consider the totality of the circumstances, including the following factors: (1) the opportunity of the witness to view the defendant at the initial observation; (2) the witness's degree of attention; (3) the accuracy of the witness's prior description of the defendant; (4) the level of certainty shown by the witness at the pretrial identification; and (5) the length of time between the initial observation and the identification. Manson, 432 U.S. at 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243; Biggers, 409 U.S. at 199-200, 93 S.Ct. 375. We must weigh these factors against any corrupting effect of the suggestive identification. Manson, 432 U.S. at 114, 97 S.Ct. 2243. 117 Both Patrick Chorney and Thomas Carter had good opportunities to view the perpetrator. Chorney, seated in the passenger's seat of the tow truck, was three feet from the shooter during the time Hankinson argued with the man on the porch. He testified that this exchange lasted a moment, long enough for [ ] each [to get] their views across, J.A. 234, and that he looked at the person long enough to see what was going on. The shooter also turned the gun on Chorney, and told him to put the phone down. As Chorney testified, he saw the perpetrator [o]nce or twice for a few minutes ... long enough for him to tell me to put the phone down and watch him argue with Ted. J.A. 208, 209. 118 After the truck had proceeded down the driveway and Hankinson had been shot, Chorney looked back once and saw the shooter still standing on the porch, picking up shell casings. Chorney testified that at that point, he was about 15-20 feet away from the porch and the perpetrator. Thus, Chorney had an excellent chance to observe the shooter. 119 Similarly, Carter had a good opportunity to observe the shooter, although for less time than Chorney and Gapinski had. Carter, who was sitting in the back end of the pickup truck, testified that he saw the person [w]hen he first came out on the porch. J.A. 252. When the truck pulled along side the house, Carter was not even 10, 12 feet from the people on the porch. J.A. 249. He testified that as the tow truck proceeded down the driveway, he saw the perpetrator, who had begun to fire: A couple of shots came out and Kenny got up and I told Kenny to get back down ... and I got back down with him and he got back down. J.A. 251. When he seen me and Kenny getting back up ... he did level [his gun] at us and that's when we had to get back down `cause I said he's going to shoot us. J.A. 254. Although Carter testified that he could not see the person's facial features at the time the shooter aimed at him, he also testified that he could see the perpetrator's face after Hankinson got shot, when the shooter was picking up shell casings. Thus, we find that Carter had a good chance to see the shooter. 120 Both Chorney and Carter were also attentive to the shooter. Beginning with the repossession itself, both were on heightened alert. This heightened attention became greater when the shooter began to fire shots. See United States v. Meyer, 359 F.3d 820, 826 (6th Cir.2004) (finding heightened degree of attention where witness spoke with robber and studied his features while looking for an opportunity to escape); United States v. Crozier, 259 F.3d 503, 511 (6th Cir.2001) (finding heightened degree of attention where robber confronted the witnesses with a gun). Everything suggests that both Chorney and Carter were alert to the shooter. 121 The third Biggers/Manson factor directs us to consider the accuracy of the witnesses' prior descriptions. In this case, neither Carter nor Chorney earlier gave detailed descriptions of the shooter. Carter described the killer: Black/male/20s, light complx [sic], short hair, thin mustache I think, he was dressed in underwear (boxer shorts). J.A. 509. Chorney described the shooter to the police as: Black male. I only seen him from the chest up, he was a smaller build. I would say he had real short hair but I only seen him for like a couple of seconds. J.A. 514-15. 122 Carter's description of Petitioner as having a light complexion contradicts other evidence, produced by Petitioner Howard, showing that Howard had a dark complexion and long nose. At trial, however, testimony suggested that the yellow porch light at the scene of the repossession gave the perpetrator a lighter hue. Thus, while the earlier description makes the identification somewhat less reliable, it is not fatal. As discussed above, our cases have found identifications otherwise reliable even when there are discrepancies in an earlier description. See, e.g., United States v. Meyer, 359 F.3d 820 (6th Cir.2004). 123 Next we consider the level of certainty shown by the witness at the pretrial identification. Carter attended the lineup and, out of the presence of Chorney and Gapinski, identified Howard as the killer. Carter testified that he was very sure of the identification. Chorney also identified Howard as the killer without equivocation. The certainty of witnesses Chorney and Carter supports the reliability of the identifications they made. 124 Finally, we consider the length of time between the shooting and the identifications. Here, the lineup followed the shootings by about three months. As we determined above, three months between the initial observation and the challenged identification is not a long period of time. See United States v. Causey, 834 F.2d 1277, 1286 (6th Cir.1987) (A three to four-month delay between the crime and the identification does not render the identification inherently unreliable). 125 Most damaging for the reliability of Chorney's and Carter's identifications is their prior failure to identify the Petitioner in a photo lineup. Just hours after the incident, Chorney and Carter went to the police station to place a report. While there, they were each shown a photo lineup, with black and white photographs, which included Petitioner Howard as suspect No. 1. However, Chorney and Carter failed to identify the Petitioner. Instead, Chorney and Carter each appear to have picked out a different suspect, one placed at No. 4. 126 Some evidence suggests that Chorney and Carter failed to choose anyone in the early photo lineup. Sergeant Harvel, the police officer who conducted the initial photo lineup, testified at the district court's evidentiary hearing that the phrase No I.D. written at the bottom of an identification record, as was the case with Chorney's and Carter's records, meant that no suspect had been identified. Harvel stated that the X`s marked next to suspect No. 4 might mean the suspect was someone else whom the police thought was a viable suspect. Harvel's testimony, however, contradicted the earlier trial testimony of Chorney, which suggested that Chorney had identified someone. Chorney's and Carter's records were identical. 127 Chorney's and Carter's inability to identify Petitioner in a 6-person photo lineup just hours after the incident somewhat undermines the reliability of an identification they made three months after the incident. It is not, however, fatal. To our eyes, the picture of suspect No. 4 is very similar to Howard's picture, positioned at No. 1. J.A. 715-16. Further, an earlier failure to identify, or even a positive identification of a different suspect, does not require exclusion of an in-court or pretrial identification, if otherwise reliable. See, e.g., United States v. Meyer, 359 F.3d 820 (6th Cir.2004) (allowing in identification despite earlier failure to identify defendant in a photo array); United States v. Black, 412 F.2d 687, 689 (6th Cir.1969) (same); United States v. Causey, 834 F.2d 1277 (6th Cir.1987) (same); United States v. Hamilton, 684 F.2d 380, 383 (6th Cir.1982) (same); United States v. Dobson, 512 F.2d 615, 616 (6th Cir.1975) (in pre- Manson case, allowing in-court identification testimony despite witness's selection of a different person earlier in his testimony). 128 An earlier failure to identify can be considered in judging the weight of the in-court identification and may be considered as one factor affecting the reliability of the earlier identification. Standing alone, it does not make the earlier identification unreliable under the Biggers/Manson due process inquiry. 129 Under the totality of the circumstances, then, Chorney's and Carter's identifications were sufficiently reliable to present them to the jury, even if the identification procedure had been suggestive. Because we find that Chorney's and Carter's identifications were properly admitted, we find that any challenge to their admissibility would not have succeeded. We thus find that trial counsel's failure to raise the challenge did not prejudice Petitioner. See Keller v. Larkins, 251 F.3d 408, 419 (3d Cir.2001) (concluding that counsel's alleged failure to object to admission of incriminating evidence was not prejudicial because evidence would have been admitted anyway, since under state law, testimony was admissible).